New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday brought to an end the criminal proceedings against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation case, overturning the trial court’s decision that had named him as an accused.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, accepted the CBI’s closure reports, effectively clearing Singh and the other accused of the charges in the case.
The court said there was no basis for the trial court to reject the CBI’s closure reports and go ahead with taking cognisance of the matter, as reported by The New Indian Express.
“Although the appeal could have been disposed of as infructuous owing to the unfortunate demise of the appellant, we have examined the issue of the learned Special Judge taking cognisance and summoning the appellant after considering both closure reports filed by the CBI,” the Bench said.
It further observed that, in view of the settled legal position laid down by the Supreme Court on the acceptance of investigation reports, the Special Judge had no valid reason to turn down the closure reports. The court accordingly allowed the appeal, set aside the order under challenge, accepted the CBI’s closure reports and closed the matter.
Singh, along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Singh, along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh and three others, was summoned by a special court in a case tied to the 2005 allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha.
The Supreme Court had already put the Special Court’s order on hold. Singh had opposed the case, saying the necessary approval to prosecute a public servant was missing, and he denied any wrongdoing in the coal block allocation.