The Supreme Court has officially closed the coal block allocation case against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, bringing an end to one of the most high-profile controversies of the UPA era. The bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, accepted the CBI’s closure reports and set aside the trial court’s 2015 summoning order.
The case pertained to the 2005 allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha to Hindalco Industries, when Singh was both Prime Minister and holding the coal portfolio. The trial court had summoned Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, and former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh for alleged offences under IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust), along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The CBI had filed two closure reports in 2014, giving Singh a clean chit and stating that no prosecutable evidence existed. However, the trial court rejected these reports and issued summons. The Supreme Court has now ruled that there was “no justification” for rejecting the closure reports, stressing that adverse remarks against Singh must be erased even though he passed away in December 2024.
This verdict provides posthumous relief to Singh, restoring his reputation and closing a chapter in the larger “coal scam” investigations. It also clears co-accused of lingering charges, as the SC accepted the CBI’s findings across the board.
