An Indian court summoned former prime minister Manmohan Singh over accusations of criminal conspiracy and corruption in the illegal award of a coal field. A special court under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ordered the 82-year-old Singh, billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla and another official to appear before it on April 8, the court said in an order.
"I am upset, but this is a part of life," a visibly distressed Singh told reporters in parliament, where he sits in the upper house. It is rare but not unknown for former Indian prime ministers to be called into court.
Known for his personal integrity and humble lifestyle, Singh has not been charged with any crime but is being investigated for criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption, a prosecution lawyer said.
The CBI, India's federal law enforcement agency, had earlier excluded Singh from the investigation. His Congress party called the summons a backlash against its opposition to economic reforms that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to push through parliament. In the past, the Supreme Court has accused the CBI of acting on the wishes of the government.
Singh to move SC
Manmohan Singh's lawyers, led by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, are likely to move SC to challenge the trial court's order. The option of moving Delhi HC to challenge the trial court decision, the normal course of grievance redressal in a three-tier justice delivery system, is ruled out because of a July 25, 2014 apex court order, which monitored the CBI probe into the alleged irregular coal block allotments during the UPA and previous NDA governments and cancelled all 214 allocations during that period.
“We make it clear that any prayer for stay or impeding the progress in the investigation can be made only before this court and no other court shall entertain the same,” the July 25 order said. Special Judge Bharat Parashar, trying the coal scam cases investigated by CBI under SC supervision in his summoning order focused on Singh's role, not as PM but as coal minister.
The trial judge said Singh as coal minister allowed reopening of the allocation “even though he himself had permitted approval of the minutes of 25th Screening Committee recommending allocation of the same block to Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), a PSU.”
“Repeated reminders from PMO, written as well as telephonic, to ministry of coal to expeditiously process the matter in view of letters received from Kumar Mangalam Birla prime facie indicate the extra undue interest shown by PMO in the matter,” the judge said. Singh's action, the judge said, defeated NLC's efforts to set up a 2,000-MW power plant in Odisha. “His action prima facie resulted in loss to NLC, a PSU, and facilitated windfall profits to a private company , Hindalco.”
Cong shows its solidarity
Congress president Sonia Gandhi led a march from the party headquarters Manmohan's house to show its solidarity. Speaking to reporters during the march, Sonia said: "We are here to show our solidarity.. we shall fight it legally." "We are here at the news of summon being served to the former prime minister Manmohan Singh.... He is known not just in our country but also in other countries for his integrity and probity," she added.
"We are here to offer our unstinted support and solidarity. The Congress party is fully behind him. We shall fight this legally and with all our means at our command and we are sure, convinced that he will be vindicated," she added. Several senior Congress veterans also participated in the solidarity march.
