SC accepts CBI’s clean chit to former PM Manmohan Singh
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant overturned a special CBI Court’s 2015 order summoning former Prime Minister Singh in the coal block allocation case.
The bench held that the court had no compelling reason to reject the CBI closure report and take action against Singh. Thus, he accepted the closure report submitted by CBI against Singh. The bench allowed Singh to challenge the summons issued to him by a court in 2015 in the case.
“We are satisfied that there are no compelling reasons for the session judge to reject and consider the closure reports of the CBI. In the result, we allow the SLP and set aside the impugned orders of the special judge, thereby accepting the closure reports submitted by the CBI and closing the matter on merits,” the Bench said in its order. he said.
Singh passed away on December 26, 2024. The court decided to examine the legality of the first instance court’s decision because it contained negative observations against him.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared at the hearing on behalf of the late former Prime Minister, argued that while the appeal after Singh’s death may technically have remained inconclusive, the court’s remarks warranted intervention. He requested the court to delete the observations against the former Prime Minister.
