Sudarat cleared in graft case

Eight members of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) found that she had not forced any bureaucrats to engage in unfair treatment of the bid winner, P Square.

The NACC members yesterday also voted 5-3 to drop a petition against the ministry’s procurement committee, which had agreed with Sudarat.

The NACC members also found that the former permanent secretary for public health who later cancelled the bidding did not commit any wrongdoing by doing so. They explained that the official had complied with a verdict by the Administrative Court in 2010 that the project’s cancellation was legitimate and the officials involved were not legally required to pay Bt1.2 billion in compensation as demanded by P Square.

Sudarat, former deputy leader of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, yesterday told The Nation that the NACC decision had restored her dignity after seven years of being “a defendant of society”.

She insisted that she had never been involved in any irregularity. Sudarat said she and other defendants in the case would discuss whether legal action would be taken against their accusers.

Sudarat, along with other Thai Rak Thai Party executives, completed a five-year ban from politics in May last year. However, she has retained her influence among some MPs in the ruling Pheu Thai Party.