Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not have to appear in a Delhi court on April 8, the Supreme Court said today. The top court has suspended the summons sent to the politician by a CBI court last month. The investigating agency has three weeks to respond to Dr Singh's petition against his summons.
Dr Singh, 82, had been told to make a personal appearance with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla for a case that says a coal field was illegally awarded in 2005 to Hindalco, a company owned by Mr Birla. At the time, Dr Singh held direct charge of the Coal Ministry.
The former PM has not been charged with any crime but is being investigated for criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, and corruption. He has denied any wrong doing. The CBI has twice said it would like to close the case against him, but has been over-ruled by the judge handling the matter.
The case known as "Coalgate" came to light in 2012 after the national auditor said 1.86 lakh crores had been lost because coal blocks were distributed without a transparent bidding process. Last year, the Supreme Court declared as illegal nearly 300 coal licenses issued by consecutive governments since 1993. Over the last few weeks, 32 of the coal blocks were auctioned by the Modi government.
Hindalco has said that it made its case for the mining license "in a transparent and lawful manner".
Supreme Court Creates History, Gives Senior Advocate Tag To Manipur Lawyer "Will Suspend All Freebies Unless...": Supreme Court's Warning To Maharashtra Another Setback To Byju Raveendran, Supreme Court Revives Insolvency Proceedings Vandalism At Kolkata Hospital Where Doctor Was Raped, Tear Gas Fired 150 mg Semen In Kolkata Doctor's Body, Suspect Gang-Rape: Parents To Court 2 French Rafale Jets Collide Mid-Air, Instructor, Pilot Missing Professor 'Digitally Arrested' For 12 Days By Scammers, Loses Rs 12 Lakh Independence Day 2024 Live Updates: PM Modi To Address Nation From Red Fort PM Modi To Address Nation From Red Fort On 78th Independence Day Today Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.