The Supreme Court of India closed the criminal coal-block allocation case against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.
The ruling provides a posthumous exoneration for the former leader, resolving a long-standing legal battle over the allocation of natural resources during his administration.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana accepted a closure report from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The agency said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Singh in the matter [2, 5].
As part of the judgment, the court set aside summons issued by the Special CBI Court in 2015 [1, 2]. The legal proceedings centered on the allocation of the Talabira-II coal block located in Odisha [3, 4].
Singh died in December 2024 [3]. The court's decision to accept the CBI's "clean chit" effectively ends the criminal pursuit of the former prime minister regarding this specific allocation case [1, 2].
The CBI had previously conducted an extensive investigation into the process by which coal blocks were distributed. The agency said the evidence did not support a criminal charge against the former prime minister [2, 5].
“The Supreme Court of India closed the criminal coal-block allocation case against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.”
This ruling concludes a decade of legal scrutiny into the 'coal-gate' era of Indian governance. By accepting the CBI's closure report, the Supreme Court has formally removed the legal stain of the Talabira-II allocation from Manmohan Singh's legacy, ensuring that the former prime minister is legally cleared of wrongdoing in this specific case.
