Panel delays decision on land documents

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) recently urged the ministry to revoke illegally issued documents and take disciplinary action against Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit, who was involved in the case in 2002 and whose penalty could be expulsion from the Cabinet. Yongyuth was deputy permanent secretary of the ministry at the time. 

However, according to a ministry source, members of the committee were not certain whether the current permanent secretary had the mandate to overwrite its predecessor’s decision and what the process might be. 

In June, the NACC said Yongyuth, acting on behalf of the permanent secretary, had certified as legal the sale of 732 rai by a foundation representing Wat Thammikaram to the Alpine Real-Estate Co and Alpine Golf & Sports Club. He gave it his stamp despite the fact that the land was owned by a monastery and could not be sold or transferred. 

It has been reported that Yongyuth will use a law on exoneration so he can hang on to his ministerial post. 

However, upon studying the law, The Nation found that it would not be applicable because its conditions are that the wrongdoer needs to have served all penalties for criminal cases and should have at least partially served the penalties before the law went into effect. 

A person who has been dismissed from government service or a state enterprise is prohibited from becoming an MP or a minister. 

The latest Exoneration Act was issued in 2007, and allows people convicted of crime or disciplinary violation some leniency if they have never committed the crime before.