The Supreme Court has found former deputy education minister Kanokwan Vilawan guilty of committing a serious violation of ethics in connection with a land scandal, as alleged by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
Effective immediately when the court handed down its ruling yesterday, Kanokwan, a deputy secretary-general of the Bhumjaithai Party, will permanently forfeit her right to run in an election and hold any political position while also losing her right to vote in an election for the next decade.
She had been suspended from performing her duties since Aug 26 when the court agreed to hear the case.
Court proceedings began on Oct 5.
The NACC found in its investigation into Kanokwan’s ownership of a 30-rai plot of land in Khao Yai National Park that the man she claimed to have purchased it from in 1990 — Thiew Malison — never really existed, said the ruling.
Neither had Kanokwan made use of the land, which is a part of the national park, before she sought to have a title deed issued for it, said the ruling, citing findings by the NACC.
Title deed No. 41158, which was issued for the land in tambon Noen Hom in Muang district of Prachin Buri, is therefore unlawful and damaging to the state, said the ruling.
Despite being aware of this fact, Kanokwan kept owning the land in question until she was named a deputy education minister, which the NACC found to be a serious violation of ethics, said the ruling.
The NACC petitioned the court to suspend her from running and voting in an election for 10 years, said the ruling.
Meanwhile, a source at the NACC said it is close to wrapping up two more investigations involving allegedly unlawful land ownership by well-known politicians.
One deals with a 41-rai plot at a forest in Kanchanaburi’s Thong Pha Phum district owned by a key opposition figure, while the other involves plots totalling 49 rai at a forest reserve in Chiang Rai’s Muang district, said the source.