SC Closes Coal Block Allocation Case Against Former PM Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, Jul 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed the criminal proceedings against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a coal block allocation case, setting aside the trial court's order summoning him as an accused. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana accepted the CBI's closure reports, which had given a clean chit to Singh and the other accused. The court observed that there was no valid reason for the trial court to reject the CBI's closure reports and proceed to take cognisance of the case. "Although the appeal had become infructuous due to the unfortunate demise of the appellant, we examined the legality of the special judge's decision to take cognisance. We are satisfied that there was no justification for rejecting the CBI's closure reports. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed, the impugned order is set aside, the closure reports are accepted and the matter stands closed," the bench said. The case related to the 2005 allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha. Besides Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh and three others had been summoned as accused by a special court in connection with the alleged irregularities.