Manmohan moves SC

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday moved India's Supreme Court against the order of a trial court that summoned him as accused in a coal scam case.

Hindalco chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh, who were also summoned as accused in the case, have also filed petitions challenging the trial court order.

On March 12, 2015 a special CBI court had summoned Singh, along with five others including Birla and Parakh in a case involving the allocation of Odisha's Talabira coal blocks in 2005 to Hindalco, a Birla group company.

A special CBI Judge summoned the six accused on April 8, 2015 for alleged offences punishable under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of the IPC and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court summoned the former Prime Minister despite the CBI filing a closure report and telling the court that there was no prosecutable evidence against him.