Coal block allocation case: SC closes criminal proceedings against former PM Manmohan Singh

The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed criminal proceedings against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation case, allowing his appeal and setting aside a trial court order that had rejected the CBI’s closure reports and summoned him to face trial.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana held that there were no cogent reasons to reject the CBI’s closure reports or take cognisance of the case against Singh.

What the apex court said

“Having regard to the relevant parameters consistently laid down by this court on acceptance of reports of investigating agency, we are satisfied that there was no reason for the learned judge to turn down the closure reports of the CBI and take cognisance. We allow the appeal and set aside the impugned judgment. As a result, we accept the closure reports of the CBI and close the matter,” the bench said, according to PTI.

The court noted that although Singh had passed away on December 26, 2024, it decided to examine the legality of the trial court’s order instead of disposing of the appeal as infructuous. “Due to the unfortunate demise of the appellant, this appeal could be disposed of as infructuous. But… we have gone through both closure reports filed by the CBI,” the bench observed, PTI reported.

SC had earlier stayed summons to Singh

Singh, along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former coal secretary P C Parakh and three others, had been summoned by a special court in connection with the 2005 allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha. The Supreme Court had stayed the summons in April 2015.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Singh, earlier said that the plea can be disposed of with the order stating that the remarks against him stand effaced, Bar and Bench reported. “I don’t want these observation to be there,” Sibal said.