(REUTERS) - Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra appeared at the Supreme Court in Bangkok on Thursday (Oct 29) for court proceedings in connection with a rice subsidy case brought against her.

The ousted PM is charged with negligence for her role in a rice subsidy scheme, which haemorrhaged billions of dollars and could see her jailed for up to 10 years if found guilty.

Yingluck was greeted by throngs of people as she left the court after a scheduled examination of evidence in the case, local media say.

The court announced that the first hearing against Yingluck would take place in January of 2016.

The rice scheme was Yingluck flagship election policy and helped sweep her into office in a landslide in 2011. Its failure saw her banned from politics for five years in January by a legislature appointed by the generals who toppled her government.

The grain policy, which has since been discontinued, aimed to boost farmers' incomes by buying their rice at above market prices. Yingluck's government was attacked for refusing to abandon the scheme when the rice and debt piled up.