Transport Ministry hopes appeal against Hopewell case will tip the scale

[webfact]

Transport Ministry hopes appeal against Hopewell case will tip the scale

By The Nation

 

 

The Transport Ministry has called on the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to file an appeal on the Hopewell case before Friday (September 20), with the hope of repeating the Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT)’s victory in a similar case 18 years ago.

 

Pisak Jitwiriyawasin, deputy permanent secretary of Transport Ministry and chair of the Hopewell case committee, said his panel has been working with the OAG to gather additional evidence and is planning to file an appeal with the Central Administrative Court by September 20.

 

“The OAG will handle the appeal process based on the evidence we have gathered,” he said. “However, it’s still too early to assume we will win this case. It all depends on judicial discretion.”

 

A source said the ministry expects OAG to file the appeal by Wednesday (September 18), because September 19 will mark 180 days from the date the court set for the payment of compensation, when a 7.5 per cent interest rate will begin being added on to the total amount to be paid.

 

Pisak also said his committee had used the Burapha Withi Expressway case as a reference for the Hopewell case.

 

“Back in 2001, EXAT was sued for Bt8 billion in damages by a foreign partner over the construction of Burapha Withi Expressway,” he said.

 

However, EXAT refused to pay and decided to investigate the qualifications of the arbitration committee, leading to the discovery of officials’ negligence and corruption, which resulted in the court dismissing the previous ruling of getting EXAT to pay for damages.

 

Pisak said his committee was referring to the EXAT case because there’s something suspicious about the Hopewell case.

 

“Something’s not quite right with the contract, which is only eight pages long even though it was a huge project,” he said. “If we can show the court that there were signs of officials’ negligence or corruption, then it could easily tip the scale in our favour.”

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30376328

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-09-18

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[davehowden]

" “If we can show the court that there were signs of officials’ negligence or corruption, ......."

 

Wouldn't think that would be too difficult given where we are !

[Oziex1]

3 minutes ago, davehowden said:

" “If we can show the court that there were signs of officials’ negligence or corruption, ......."

 

Wouldn't think that would be too difficult given where we are !

But then again, buying silence is part of the business model as well. 

[bangkokfrog]

An interesting defense, but if successful it seems to me that any damages (and criminal charges) should be applied equally to all involved, including the Transport Ministry officials involved. Also, surely the Ministry itself must be culpable for accepting an 8 page contract in the first place.

Finally, I am always intrigued when I see the term "judicial discretion" when describing Thai court cases. At this level, only points of law should be taken into account in deciding an appeal. The fact that judges here are not necessarily bound by legal precedent (other than in cases previously decided by the Supreme Court) opens the way for huge questions about the administration of justice..

[Cadbury]

The original penalty awarded by the Supreme Court was 11.88 billion baht plus interest equalling about 37 billion baht. The SRT subsequently lost the appeal against that judgement. The government then tried to petition the court which was in turn dismissed. How many appeals can they have until the get the decision they want. Dirty tricks abound.

In the meantime potential foreign investors would be watching this play out and undoubtedly thinking twice about risking their money in Thailand. Particularly where incompetent government agencies like SRT is concerned. 

 

To quote from a report:

Following the court’s ruling, the government was urged to seek a retrial with the Administrative Court.

In their petition, the ministry and the SRT claimed the Supreme Administrative Court’s order was based on inaccurate information.

However, the Administrative Court ruled that there was no new evidence from the plaintiffs to justify their request for a fresh review. The court also confirmed the Supreme Administrative Court’s full authority to hear and rule on the dispute and thus dismissed the petition.

Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/hopewell-petition-rejected-72621.php#7Qsq5gCGuJXleUkG.99

[ChrisY1]

"It all depends on judicial discretion.”

This issue has been a failure for the transport dept and they're still trying to avoid paying out.

But, "Judicial discretion" could well be a saving grace....for a fee!

[Sydebolle]

Billions and billions burnt, no train system running, the culprits at large spending all the content of all those brown manila envelopes and the state (i.e. the people) have to not only pay the f"*ç%-up but also the fine based on 7.5% p.a. 

The loser is, again, Khon Thai who hardly can read and write and who will see staple food prices increased (fourfold for rice and eggs over the last 30 years - and B 7/litre gasoline springs to mind). On the latter a recent discussion resulted in "what are you talking about; fuel is normally priced". Querying that, I was told that he would ask for B 500 fuel and, for the last 30+ years, always got fuel for B 500. Like the one kilogramme (instead of number of pieces) of plastic bags ...........

Better rest your case, give up and hope for more common-sense days .......... 

[MadMac]

Certainly will send another clear signal not to invest in Thailand. Even the Chinese will learn soon enough.

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, Cadbury said:

The original penalty awarded by the Supreme Court was 11.88 billion baht plus interest equalling about 37 billion baht.

Correct on the amount of interest OWED up to the date of award by the Supreme Court. Interest began the point at which the SRT defaulted on the contract. Not as stated in the article.

9 hours ago, webfact said:

A source said the ministry expects OAG to file the appeal by Wednesday (September 18), because September 19 will mark 180 days from the date the court set for the payment of compensation, when a 7.5 per cent interest rate will begin being added on to the total amount to be paid.

If the Court rejects the Ministry's appeal or rules in favor of Hopewell, the Minister should be held personally liable for the additional interest owed by his actions instead of the Thai taxpayers - about Bt2.4 million per day!

[robblok]

18 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Correct on the amount of interest OWED up to the date of award by the Supreme Court. Interest began the point at which the SRT defaulted on the contract. Not as stated in the article.

If the Court rejects the Ministry's appeal or rules in favor of Hopewell, the Minister should be held personally liable for the additional interest owed by his actions instead of the Thai taxpayers - about Bt2.4 million per day!

And if it works and he gets a lower amount awarded to Hopewell, is he then allowed to keep the money ?. I mean if he is responsible for losses then he should be rewarded if it goes well too ? or does your reasoning not include that.

 

IMHO they should just pay up but I can understand them giving it an other try there is a lot of money at stake. 

[Cadbury]

Just now, Srikcir said:

Correct on the amount of interest OWED up to the date of award by the Supreme Court. Interest began the point at which the SRT defaulted on the contract. Not as stated in the article.

If the Court rejects the Ministry's appeal or rules in favor of Hopewell, the Minister should be held personally liable for the additional interest owed by his actions instead of the Thai taxpayers - about Bt2.4 million per day!

The other interesting thing is that the contract between SRT and CP Holdings has been delayed because the "government is concerned about losing heaps of money like it did with Hopewell", cunningly Implying that it was all Hopewell's fault and not SRT. 

The truth more likely is that CP Holdings is having second thoughts because of the involvement of the incompetent idiots who run SRT and they don't want to experience what Hopewell did. Either that or they are refusing to pay extortion demands. 

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30376049