Taking an important decision in the coal block allocation case, the Supreme Court on Wednesday canceled the 2015 order of the Special CBI Court summoning former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. While giving the verdict, the court said that the trial court had no basis to reject the closure report of CBI and take cognizance against them.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana accepted the former Prime Minister’s appeal, accepted the CBI closure report giving him a clean chit and closed the proceedings in the case.
Many adverse comments against Manmohan
Although Dr Manmohan Singh died in December 2024, the Supreme Court decided to examine the validity of the trial court order as it contained several adverse observations against him. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the late former Prime Minister, said that even though the appeal had technically become ineffective after the death of Manmohan Singh, it was necessary to pay attention to the observations of the trial court.
Sibal told the bench, “One of the cases is the case related to Dr. Manmohan Singh.” He also requested the court to remove the comments made against the former Prime Minister. To this, CJI Surya Kant said that the case could be disposed of, to which Sibal replied that the trial court had taken cognizance of the case and had made adverse observations which should be removed.
The trial court had issued summons in 2015
Senior advocate RS Cheema, appearing for CBI, said that issues related to the validity of some provisions in the related cases still remain. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that at least in the case of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the comments can be removed.
The Supreme Court recorded in its order that due to the unfortunate death of the appellant, this appeal could have been disposed of as infructuous. But to consider the aspect of the Special Judge taking cognizance of the case and sending summons to the appellant, we have seen both the closure reports filed by the CBI.
The court said, “Keeping in mind the relevant parameters consistently laid down by this Court with regard to accepting the report of the investigating agency, we are satisfied that there was no reason for the judge to reject the closure report of the CBI and take cognizance of the case.”
The court further said, “We allow the appeal and set aside the impugned judgment. Consequently, we accept the closure report of the CBI and close the case.” In 2015, the trial court had issued summons to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But he died in December 2024. After the court withdrew the summons, this case against the former PM has now been closed.
Leave a Reply