The additional punishment was enacted by the junta in September to be enforced with penalties prescribed by the 1998 Political Party Act. It is known as Paragraph 3 of the junta's Announcement No 27.

In addition to Panya, two other judges from the court were also against applying the punishment retroactively.

In his ruling, Panya said the Announcement No 27 was invalid because it was enacted after the wrongdoing had been committed and negatively impacted on a basic right to vote and engage in politics.

"Even though an accepted legal principle against retroactive law enforcement applies to criminal offences, many countries uphold this same principle for cases which impact on the people's basic rights," he said. Removal from the electoral process was tantamount to depriving the party executives from political participation, which was a basic right.

The electoral fraud happened during the lead-up to the poll in April last year and the additional punishment was enacted after public prosecutors had commenced the litigation against the party and its executives, he said, viewing the punishment as unjustified.

Under the Political Party Act enacted by elected Parliament, the convicted party executives are to be penalised by a ban to form or manage a new party. This punishment was deemed necessary by society, he said.

Meanwhile, the three tribunal judges from the Supreme Administrative Court - Ackaratorn Chularat, Jaran Hathakam, and Vichai Chuenchom-phunut - yesterday made their individual judgements public on the court's website (www.admincourt.go.th).