Panel fires Office of the Judiciary adviser

Panel fires Office of the Judiciary adviser

Sarawut Benjakul
Sarawut Benjakul

The Judicial Commission on Monday decided to dismiss Sarawut Benjakul from his post as a special adviser to the Office of the Judiciary (OTJ) over serious misconduct relating to a 42.3-million-baht court renovation project.

Mr Sarawut will not receive his pension as a result of his dismissal, a source said.

The commission voted 12-3 to endorse the findings of an investigation which found Mr Sarawut responsible for the irregularities in the renovation of Phra Khanong Provincial Court.

The commission then voted 8-7 to dismiss him from his post as a special adviser.

Mr Sarawut was investigated after a contractor was found to have started work on the court's renovation when bidding for the project had yet to be called, the source said.

Mr Sarawut, a former secretary-general of OTJ, recently entered Bangkok's gubernatorial race as an independent candidate.

Although Section 50 of the Local Elections Act prohibits a person who has been expelled from a government organisation for serious misconduct from running in these elections, Mr Sarawut may not be disqualified from the race as he had already resigned from his post before the commission began its investigation, according to the source.

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