Supreme Court Closes Coal Block Case Against Manmohan Singh

The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed a criminal case against former prime minister Manmohan Singh in a coal block allocation case while setting aside a summoning order passed against him.Singh, who passed away on December 27 2024, now stands formally acquitted in the high-profile criminal case. 

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana accepted the CBI's closure report giving a clean chit to the former PM and others.

The top court said there was no reason for the trial court judge to turn down closure reports of CBI and take cognisance. "Due to unfortunate demise



of the appellant, this appeal could be disposed of as infructuous. But with a view to consider the aspect of ld. spl. judge taking cognisance and summoning the appellant, we have gone through both closure reports filed by CBI. 

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 ld. judge to turn down closure reports of CBI and take cognisance. 

We allow the appeal and set aside the impugned judgment. As a result, we accept the closure reports of CBI and close the matter, the bench said.