“Our scrutiny has nothing to do with the court case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra. We are doing this because the government seems to be hastily selling rice from its stocks at this time,” Pheu Thai politician Yuthapong Charassathien said.

“Do not view our move as politically motivated. We are just looking for possible irregularities to protect the public interest,” he added.

Yuthapong served as deputy agriculture minister in the government led by Yingluck. He is now head of a Pheu Thai working group scrutinising the post-coup government’s sale of rice.

A lot of the rice in the government stocks was bought at prices far higher than the market price during the tenure of the Pheu Thai-led government.

The case against Yingluck, a key Pheu Thai figure, is being heard by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. A negligence charge stems from her government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme, which was estimated to cause more than Bt500 billion in losses to state coffers.

The court’s last hearing is scheduled for later this month and a verdict is expected within two months.

Yuthapong yesterday called on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who also serves as chairman of the National Rice Policy Committee, to order an investigation into an alleged irregularity involving the auction of government rice.

Pheu Thai politicians have suggested that a lot of the rice was auctioned off as animal feed although its quality was good enough for human consumption, adding that some of the purchased rice would eventually be resold for human consumption.

Yuthapong said an animal feed company that bought 14,035 tonnes of rice classified as low quality had a production capacity of only 11 tonnes a day. “Even though this company produces animal feed non-stop, around the clock, it will take them seven years to use up all the purchased raw materials,” he said.

In another case he highlighted, an animal feed factory in Ratchaburi bought almost 39,000 tonnes of “low quality” rice from the government stock. Judging from its current production capacity, the factory would take 20 years to use all the raw materials, he added.

The Pheu Thai politician claimed that photos had been sent to him anonymously to prove that the Ratchaburi animal feed factory did not store the purchased rice at its warehouse.

He also asked Prayut to issue an order for the warehouse to be examined.

Yuthapong said he would lead media today to inspect the Ratchaburi factory to determine whether the rice bought was stored there.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party politician Warong Dechgitvigrom yesterday urged the government to be strict about checking the quality of rice in its stocks before auctions.

He said that would prevent possible corruption allegations and possible irregularities by state officials.