Deputy Attorney-General Nate Naksuk, who approved the dropping of the reckless driving charge against Red Bull scion Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya, was a no-show on Sunday at a hearing of a sub-panel examining the prosecutor's handling of the case.
The sub-panel -- which is headed by Borwornsak Uwanno, former chairman of a constitution drafting group, and under the independent inquiry committee set up by the prime minister to look into the case -- summonsed Mr Nate to give statements, but he failed to show up.
To date, there have been three committees formed to look into the dropping of the reckless driving charge against Mr Vorayuth, after the decision sparked a public outcry.
One was set up by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the other two were launched by the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) and the Royal Thai Police Office to look into their roles in the case.
Only deputy spokesman of the OAG Prayuth Phetkhun and a group of prosecutors involved in the case attended Sunday's hearing, which lasted about five hours. Mr Prayuth appeared before the Borwornsak panel in his capacity as a member of the prosecutors' panel looking into the case.
Mr Borwornsak said on Sunday the panel would make sure Mr Nate shows up to clarify the issue. "He will have to appear before the panel eventually," he said.
While declining to discuss Mr Nate's judgement, Mr Borwornsak said the hit-and-run case exposed what were deemed as weaknesses in the OAG's justice administration process.
