"No one in the Cabinet had the intuition to check pertinent legal issues," he said.

Wissanu was speaking just before giving his statement to the Udom Fuangfung panel in charge of investigating the illegal lottery sale.

The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) established the Udom panel after the Council of State ruled that the Thaksin Shinawatra regime had overstepped its mandate to push for the lotteries because the GLO was not empowered to deal with such operations.

In defending his involvement, Wissanu said the Cabinet resolution on the lotteries in question was passed without going through a screening process under his charge.

Wissanu was the chairman of the Cabinet screening committee.

After the new lottery tickets had been on the market for a few months, the National Economic and Social Advisory Council submitted a report recommending certain changes designed to curb the sale of tickets and tighten the supervision of earnings, he said.

The report was vetted by his screening committee and the Cabinet subsequently approved all recommendations, particularly those for controlling the lottery revenues, he said.

Even at the second Cabinet debate on the lotteries, every minister presumed that the lottery was legal, Wissanu said.

In a separate graft investigation, the Amnuay Tantara panel will today convene to hear the testimony about the CTX procurement scandal from Sombat Amornwiwat, former director general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).

The panel has summoned Sombat after he refused to voluntarily provide a statement.

Appointed by the AEC, the panel has been tasked to investigate suspected foul play in relation to the installation of the bomb detectors at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Panel chairman Amnuay said he would question Sombat over why the DSI report on the case appeared less thorough when compared to fresh evidence supplied to his panel by a witnesses questioned by DSI.

A key witness, deal-broker Worapoj Yasathat, revealed many details that the DSI had failed to mention in its report, he said.

The DSI relinquished its jurisdiction over the case to the AEC after the September 19 coup.

In a related development, the AEC working group investigating the previous Cabinet's decision in 2003 to issue an emergency decree requiring mobile-phone operators to pay excise tax in lieu of concession fees yesterday questioned Somkiat Tangkitwanit, a researcher from the Thailand Development Research Institute.

Somkiat's research study pointed to massive losses the state had and would continue to suffer from the decision.

The researcher said yesterday after his meeting with the panel members, which lasted about two hours, he was confident those responsible would be punished as it was clear the Cabinet decision was not in the public interest.