Thailand's Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to accept a suit filed against the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife on a controversial land purchase in Bangkok in 2003.

The court scheduled the first hearing on August 14 for Thaksin and his wife, Pojaman Shinawatra, to enter their plea.

The court ordered the public prosecutors to send a subpoena for the two defendants within three days. If there is no one to receive the subpoena, it would be posted on the house of the couple in Bangkok.

The suit submitted by Office of the Attorney General filed corruption charges against the couple, the first time criminal charges have ever been filed against a former premier in the kingdom.

The Office of the Attorney General's working group ruled that the Bangkok land on Ratchadapisek Road, which changed hands from the Financial Institutions Development Fund to Thaksin's wife, could have raised as much as 2.1 billion baht (US$61.8 million) in terms of then current property market levels, but eventually sold for only 772 million (US$22.7 million), only one-third of the market value when the purchase was made.

In addition, the Office of the Attorney General suggested the five-hectare of controversial land be confiscated at the order of the Supreme Court.

The couple are charged of breaching anti-corruption laws, which bars state officials and their spouses from doing business with a state agency. If convicted, they face imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to 60,000 baht (US$1765), plus a maximum of 10 years in jail and a maximum 20,000 baht (US$588) fine for malfeasance under the Criminal Procedures Code.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2007)