The three defendants were the board of the Exchange Equalisation Fund (EEF), which is a unit of the central bank, the BOT governor and the EEF's manager.

The ruling may slightly dim Rerngchai's hopes to defend himself against a civil suit filed by the central bank demanding he pay Bt186 billion in damages incurred when he depleted the country's reserves in trying to keep the baht pegged to the US dollar.

Rerngchai had earlier successfully fought off negligence charges brought by the EEF.

The Administrative Court ordered the EEF on November 5, 2003, to nullify a 2001 resolution that accused the former governor of being "severely negligent".

Rerngchai's attorney had argued to the court that the resolution should be nullified, because it did not follow the procedures prescribed in Articles 18 and 20 of the Prime Minister's Office Regulations, which required endorsement of the resolution by the prime minister and the central bank's court of directors.

However, the Supreme Administrative Court yesterday overturned that order, saying the process used had been proper. It said then-Finance Minister Amnuay Viravan and then-EEF manager Chaiyawat Wibulswasdi had duly proceeded with the resolution to charge Rerngchai.

Rerngchai had accused the three defendants of hurting his reputation by issuing the EEF resolution and of acting in violation of a 1996 law regarding accountability for violations committed by government officials, as well as violating the PM's Office Regulations.

The central bank appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, which found the three defendants' act did not harm the plaintiff's reputation or cause damage to the plaintiff, because the procedure did follow the internal administration process of the PM's Office Regulations.

Therefore, the higher court said in its release, the Administrative Court did not have the jurisdiction to consider this case.

The Supreme Administrative Court decided to dismiss the case, but said the plaintiff still had the right to seek redress in the Civil Court in regard to the actions of the three defendants.

Rerngchai's attorney, Noppadon Laowthong, said the Supreme Administrative Court ruling focused on the administrative aspect and the scope of jurisdiction of the defendants. He believes he still has a good chance to appeal the case in the Civil Court, which will consider the facts and other legal aspects.

He said Rerngchai had turned to the Appeals Court seeking to overturn the Civil Court's judgement against him.

The Civil Court ordered Rerngchai to pay Bt186 billion for the alleged severe negligence in his management of foreign-exchange policy during the period leading to the July 2, 1997, float of the baht.

His appeal is based on four points.

First, the agency that employs an official who is accused of committing a violation should order the official to pay damages before filing to seek the damages in court.

Second, the procedure to charge him was not done in accordance with the PM's Office Regulations.

Third, Rerngchai conducted swap transactions from November 1, 1996, to June 30, 1997, using prudence under the circumstances.

Fourth, the damages should be recalculated.