SC closes coal block scam case against Manmohan Singh

What happened: Supreme Court accepted CBI closure reports and closed the case (posthumous relief)

The Supreme Court granted posthumous relief to former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation corruption case by accepting two closure reports filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2014. The Supreme Court held that there was no sufficient material or good reason to register a corruption case connected to the coal block allocation scam.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant examined the closure reports. The Supreme Court set aside the trial court’s adverse approach and closed the case on merits.

The Supreme Court recorded that Dr. Manmohan Singh died in December 2024, but the coal block allocation corruption case and the lingering impact of adverse trial observations continued to affect proceedings. The Supreme Court’s short order indicates that the trial court judge’s approach to the closure reports was not justified.

Background and earlier position: CBI closure reports and adverse observations at trial stage

In the coal block allocation corruption matter, CBI filed two closure reports in 2014. The trial court stage included adverse observations against Dr. Manmohan Singh, and those adverse observations had lingering effect even after Dr. Manmohan Singh died.