The Supreme Administrative Court has dismissed a case in which former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was charged with malfeasance for approving the now-defunct water-management plan.
In July 2012, the Stop Global Warming Association (SGWA) and 45 villagers' representatives accused Ms Yingluck and three water-related government agencies of malfeasance for approving the 350-billion-baht water management master plan.
They claimed the Yingluck government had abused its administrative power, causing enormous damage to the environment, when they approved the plan. The association alleged the plan did not comply with rules about public hearings set forth in the 2007 charter.
At trial yesterday, the court overruled a Central Administrative Court order requiring the government to hold more public hearings on the water plan. The high court dismissed the charges, saying the plan had yet to take effect.
The court said the association could challenge individual water projects once they are implemented.
As for the charge that public hearing results were not credible because the agencies asked contractors to hold them, the court ruled that this was allowed since the contractors were under the supervision of the agencies.
The association also alleged that the government's wholesale bidding method, in which contractors bid for entire projects, was illegitimate. But the court ruled yesterday the government can choose any bidding method it wants.
Among the water plan's most controversial projects is the Mae Wong Dam, a planned embankment dam on the Mae Wong River in Nakhon Sawan province. The dam's reservoir was planned within Mae Wong National Park and drew strong opposition from opponents who said the project would destroy 17.6 square kilometres of low-lying forest and animal habitats.
The Central Administrative Court in late June 2013 ordered the government to hold more public hearings for each module to cover all affected areas. However, the SGWA appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, seeking to halt all projects under the plan.
At yesterday's trial, the association reiterated its complaints that because no public hearings had been held and borrowing had commenced despite bypassing standard procurement regulations, the projects should all be scrapped.
Srisuwan Chanya, chairman of the association, said he was disappointed by yesterday's ruling.