Court upholds dismissal of ex–deputy police chief Surachate

Dismissed former deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn lost his bid to return to the police service today, after the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the order for his dismissal was legitimate.

Surachate was dismissed about two years ago after he was indicted in the Criminal Court for money laundering and malfeasance in office, in connection with an online gambling platform.

He challenged his dismissal by taking the case to the Administrative Court and, eventually, to the Supreme Administrative Court. In arriving at its ruling today, the Supreme Administrative Court took into consideration three issues.

The first was whether the dismissal was legitimate. The court ruled that the dismissal order was issued after the Criminal Court had issued a warrant for his arrest and, as such, there was no reason to doubt the legitimacy of the order.

The second was whether the dismissal had deprived Surachate of the opportunity to learn more details about his case so he could challenge the order.

The court ruled that, even though the dismissal order might have affected the police officer’s rights, it fell under a legal exception.

The court also noted that the charges against him are not related to a petty offence or an offence of negligence; therefore, dismissing him from office pending the outcome of the investigation was legitimate.

The third issue was whether the dismissal order was issued in a bona fide and legal manner. The court ruled that the national police chief was fully authorised to order the termination of Surachate’s employment because the charges against him are serious.