Green Politics Group coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said Monday five questions were raised by the Administrative Court's rejection of the Ombudsman's petition to halt the 3G licensing process and called on the people to consider them and help seek answers.
Mr Suriyasai was speaking after judges ruled that the Ombudsman was not an affected party and had no right to act as a plaintiff, so the case was rejected and removed from the filing list.
With the ruling, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) can go ahead and issue the licences within 90 days after the approval of the bidding process, or by Jan 19.
First, Mr Suriyasai questioned whether the court exceeded its authority by interpreting the mandate of the Ombudsman according to the 2009 Organic Law on Ombudsman. He asked if the court’s ruling intervened in the Ombudsman office which is an independent organisation under the Constitution.
If this was the case, Mr Suriyasai said, the court should not have begun hearing the Ombudsman’s request in the first place and the judges would not have to waste their time considering it.
It should be noted that the court previously also dismissed a similar petition lodged by civic groups and academics, reasoning they were not affected parties.
“The court then suggested the petitioners file their complaints with the Ombudsman but today it stated that the agency did not have the authority to sue the NBTC.
“So, does the ruling contradict the court’s previous one?” he said.
Mr Suriyasai also called on the Administrative Court judges, both on the majority and minority sides of Monday's ruling, to disclose the results of their resolution and supportive opinions in the case to the public for the sake of transparency.
He will ask for advice from the court on Tuesday as to who and which agencies have the authority and the right to file legal challenges against the NBTC. He will also ask the Ombudsman to appeal its petition to the court.