The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases is scheduled to rule on May 14 on True Digital Group's lawsuit against the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission's (NBTC) Pirongrong Ramasoota on the grounds of dereliction of duty.
The court accepted the case for its consideration in March.
True Digital Group is an arm of True Corporation. According to the company's complaint, the NBTC has yet to establish rules to govern over-the-top (OTT) service platforms.
Therefore, True Digital Group does not have to seek the NBTC's permission to offer OTT services.
OTT refers to a platform that delivers streamed content via an internet channel.
However, there are grounds to believe that in March 2023, Mrs Pirongrong ordered the then acting NBTC deputy secretary-general to notify 127 radio and TV broadcasting licence holders that True Digital Group is not permitted to operate this kind of broadcasting service.
True Digital believes that this notifiction may have led those broadcasters to believe that the company illegally operated the service and might suspend the company's content on their channels.
True Digital Group believes the act by Mrs Pirongrong shows that she allegedly intended to cause damage to the company, which amounts to dereliction of duty.
Mrs Pirongrong said if the court ordered her to be suspended from her duties, she would lodge an appeal against such a ruling.
She added that she believes that in the case of a state official's dereliction of duty, it should be the duty of the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, not a private company, to bring a charge against a state official and it should include a complete witness testimony process.