About 100 Thai Rak Thai supporters protested in front of the Supreme Court yesterday, de-manding that Charan Pakdithana-kul, the secretary-general to the court's president, apologise for comments he made on Saturday about Thai Rak Thai voters in the April 2 election.

Holding banners with caricatures of Charan, the protesters said that if the secretary-general did not apologise more protesters would gather and they would file libel charges against him today.

Charan said he expected the protest, but he had never meant to insult Thai Rak Thai supporters specifically when he commented on vote-buying in the tarnished election. Records of his interviews in the media would prove his point, he said.

Wirat Chinvinijkul, secretary of the Supreme Court, said no legal action would be taken against the protesters and the public could decide whether they had acted properly.

Meanwhile, the presidents of the Supreme Court and the Administrative Court had lunch together yesterday without the newly appointed president of the Constitution Court, Ura Wang-ormklang, who reportedly said he was too busy.

No other representative from the Constitution Court joined the informal meeting.

Supreme Court president Chanchai Likhitjitthaw, and his secretary-general, Charan, met Administrative Court president Ackaratorn Chularat in a room at Gianni Italian restaurant in Soi Ton Son.

Ackaratorn said the lunch was not a special or formal occasion, as the presidents of the courts usually had lunch together every month.

Charan said Ura had been invited but was not obliged to attend, as it was not an official meeting.

The court presidents have met in public three times in the past few months, saying they were conferring on ways to solve the current political crisis on behalf of His Majesty the King.

Ura said he had not been asked to take part in any discussion of the court presidents since he was appointed president of the Constitution Court on July 13.

Pan Chantarapan, a Consti-tution Court judge who was caretaker president of the court before Ura's appointment, and who had attended the three previous meetings, said he reported the conclusions of the meetings to the court judges.

The discussions and conclusions of the meetings were the opinions of the three presidents, and not the courts, he said.

Constitution Court secretary-general Paiboon Warahapaitoon said the presidents usually made the lunch appointments themselves.

Pan then notified him about the meetings as a courtesy.

Paiboon said he did not know about yesterday's meeting.

 Kesinee Taengkhiew,

 Supon Thanukrit

 The Nation