New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed the criminal case against former prime minister Manmohan Singh in the Talabira-II coal block allocation case while setting aside the summoning order passed against him.
Singh, who died on 27 December 2024, now stands formally cleared in the high-profile criminal case.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) closure report, giving a clean chit to the former prime minister and the other accused.
The top court said there was no reason for the trial court to reject the CBI's closure reports and take cognisance of the case.
"Due to the unfortunate demise of the appellant, this appeal could be disposed of as infructuous. But with a view to consider the aspect of the learned special judge taking cognisance and summoning the appellant, we have gone through both closure reports filed by the CBI.
"Having regard to the relevant parameters consistently laid down by this court on acceptance of reports of the 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.
Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former coal secretary P C Parakh and three others had been summoned as accused by a special court in a coal allocation case relating to the allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005.
The Supreme Court subsequently stayed the summoning order.
Singh had challenged the proceedings, arguing that the mandatory sanction required to prosecute a public servant had not been obtained. He also denied any criminal wrongdoing in the decision to allocate the coal block.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar had summoned the six accused for alleged offences under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant or agent) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Besides Singh, Birla and Parakh, the court had also summoned Hindalco Industries Ltd and its officials, Shubhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya.
The case relates to the allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha to Hindalco Industries Ltd in 2005, when Singh was also holding the coal portfolio.
In its FIR, the CBI had named Parakh, Birla, Hindalco Industries Ltd and other unknown persons for alleged offences under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The agency later filed a closure report, but the trial court refused to accept it.
The court had also directed the CBI to examine the then Prime Minister Singh and senior officials of the Prime Minister's Office, including his then Principal Secretary T K A Nair and former private secretary B V R Subramanyam.