Army commander-in-chief Prayuth Chan-ocha has insisted the Defence Council cannot consider any amnesty bill proposal in favour of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"It cannot reach the Defence Council because there is no rule [for that]," Gen Prayuth said.
He was discussing the audio clip of a conversation that allegedly took place between Thaksin and Deputy Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa in Hong Kong on June 22.
The two men in the clip talked about a plan to push forward an amnesty bill that favours Thaksin by seeking support from the Defence Council.
The plan would also ask the National Security Council to forward the proposal to the cabinet to issue an executive decree for immediate enforcement.
A defence source said yesterday that although Thaksin and Gen Yuthasak had talked in a Hong Kong restaurant on that day, and the clip may well have recorded them, the conversation might have been edited to create misunderstanding.
The source said this was because Gen Yuthasak is knowledgeable about the law and he would know that an amnesty bill could not be proposed to the Defence Council.
However, permanent secretary for defence Thanongsak Apirakyodhin said yesterday the Defence Council could legally consider an amnesty bill if the defence minister proposed it.
He was responding to a question from Democrat MP Watchara Phetthong during a parliament meeting on defence budgets.
Gen Thanongsak explained the Defence Council could consider six issues: military affairs, security, military administration, military budgets, military bills and other issues that the defence minister ordered.
Meanwhile, Noppadon Pattama, a legal adviser to Thaksin, said the audio clip had recorded the voice of Thaksin but it was doctored. Thaksin's son Panthongtae would elaborate on the changes to the clip after he returned from a trip to China where he is meeting his father.