Former prime minister Manmohan Singh(82) was summoned by a court today as
an accused in a case linked to the coal scam that saw mining rights
being assigned without transparency to private firms
A special CBI court on Wednesday March 11,2015 ordered Dr Manmohan Singh, Hindalco chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Coal Secretary PC Parakh and three others to appear on April 8,2015
"I am upset, but this is a part of life," the Dr Manmohan Singh told
Note
The scam dubbed "Coal-Gate" surfaced after the national auditor's report in 2012 questioned the government's practice of awarding coal mining blocks at a concession to companies without competitive bidding.
Dr Manmohan Singh, who was prime minister for 10 years till his Congress party lost power last year, is being investigated for criminal conspiracy and breach of trust, a charge that carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
The CBI had told the court in its final report that there was "no prosecutable evidence against anyone."
The case involves the allocation of a coal field in Odisha's Talabira block in 2005 to Hindalco. At the time, Dr Singh held direct charge of the Coal Ministry.
Hindalco, a part of the $40 billion Aditya Birla Group, had first been refused the coal field it sought, but the decision was later reversed.
A 75-page court order says Kumar Mangalam Birla met Dr Singh, after which the prime minister's office "showed undue interest and sent reminders to the coal ministry." The court also accused Dr Singh of ignoring the decision of a screening committee to allot the coal field to Neyveli Lignite Corporation, a public sector unit
A special CBI court on Wednesday March 11,2015 ordered Dr Manmohan Singh, Hindalco chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Coal Secretary PC Parakh and three others to appear on April 8,2015
"I am upset, but this is a part of life," the Dr Manmohan Singh told
Note
The scam dubbed "Coal-Gate" surfaced after the national auditor's report in 2012 questioned the government's practice of awarding coal mining blocks at a concession to companies without competitive bidding.
Dr Manmohan Singh, who was prime minister for 10 years till his Congress party lost power last year, is being investigated for criminal conspiracy and breach of trust, a charge that carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
The CBI had told the court in its final report that there was "no prosecutable evidence against anyone."
The case involves the allocation of a coal field in Odisha's Talabira block in 2005 to Hindalco. At the time, Dr Singh held direct charge of the Coal Ministry.
Hindalco, a part of the $40 billion Aditya Birla Group, had first been refused the coal field it sought, but the decision was later reversed.
A 75-page court order says Kumar Mangalam Birla met Dr Singh, after which the prime minister's office "showed undue interest and sent reminders to the coal ministry." The court also accused Dr Singh of ignoring the decision of a screening committee to allot the coal field to Neyveli Lignite Corporation, a public sector unit
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