The Supreme Administrative Court on Friday stood by a lower court's decision that rejected the anti-graft agency's request for a review of a case involving former deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwon's luxury wristwatches.
The court said there was no basis for the review sought by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which had been ordered to disclose the details of its investigation into the wristwatch controversy to political activist Veera Somkhwamkid.
In December 2018, the NACC ruled 5:3 that there were no grounds for the accusation that Gen Prawit falsely declared his wealth when he did not include 22 luxury watches and rings in his list of assets. Gen Prawit claimed they belonged to friends and had since been returned.
The luxury watch probe was launched when Gen Prawit was spotted wearing a platinum Richard Mille RM 029 valued at about 2.5 million baht and a diamond ring at a Government House event on Dec 4, 2017.
After the NACC dismissed the case, Mr Veera petitioned the Supreme Administrative Court requesting the disclosure of the information about the investigation, which was subsequently granted.
By the court ruling, the NACC was required to disclose three sets of information to Mr Veera.
They were fact-finding reports, opinions of the anti-graft officials in charge of the case, and the NACC's meeting reports on the case.
However, the NACC gave only two sets of information to Mr Veera and declined to disclose the opinions of the anti-graft officials in charge of the case.
In an interview in August, NACC secretary-general Niwatchai Kasemmongkol said the agency must protect its integrity and that the names of the witnesses in the documents handed over to Mr Veera had to be blacked out in order to protect the witnesses' identity and integrity.