The Supreme Court Wednesday gave a posthumous clean chit to the late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a case pertaining to the alleged coal block “scam” that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was probing.A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana accepted the CBI’s decision to close the case against Singh, who passed away on December 26, 2024, and allowed his appeal challenging the summons issued to him by a trial court in 2015 regarding the case.In August and October 2014, the CBI had filed closure reports before the trial court of then Special Judge Bharat Parashar, finding no case against Singh. The special court, however, rejected the reports, took cognisance of the case, and summoned Singh in March 2015. The Supreme Court had stayed the summons to Singh in April 2015.“We are satisfied that there was no reason for the learned Judge to turn down the closure reports of the CBI and take cognizance,” the Supreme Court said Wednesday.The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the allocation of Odisha’s Talabira-2 coal block in 2005, when Manmohan Singh was PM and held the charge of the Coal Ministry portfolio.The block was allocated to Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd (NLC) and Hindalco after the three entities formed a joint venture. The alleged irregularities pertained to the inclusion of Hindalco (an Aditya Birla Group flagship company) in the allotment of the block alongside the two public sector undertakings.Also in Explained | Coal scam – Manmohan Singh in the dockWhile the 25th Screening Committee had originally recommended allocating the block to NLC, the decision was revisited after Birla sent letters to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) requesting a coal allocation.Story continues below this adThe special court had issued summons to Singh, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Coal Secretary P C Parakh, the company Hindalco and its executives B Shubhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya.The court observed that Singh made a “conscious effort” to “somehow accommodate” Hindalco in the process by approving Parakh’s proposal to accommodate the company in the block, while ignoring notes of caution from two PMO officials regarding relaxation of previously approved guidelines.The judge noted that the allocation “nullified” the Screening Committee’s recommendations, and that it hurt the NLC and its efforts to establish a 2,000 megawatt power plant in Odisha.What Singh’s lawyers saidNow, more than a decade after the special court’s summons, the top court was hearing a batch of petitions in connection with the coal block allotment cases when Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Singh, referred to the case against the late PM.Story continues below this adNewsletterFollow our daily newsletter so you never miss anything important. On Wednesday, we answer readers' questions.SubscribeSibal said that though the matter had become infructuous after Singh’s death, the special court’s remarks against him ought to be expunged. Senior Advocate A M Singhvi, also representing Singh, urged the Supreme Court to do away with the remarks.Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023. Professional Background Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University. Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories. Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts. Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials. Recent notable articles In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories. 1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey. 2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation. 3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police. Signature Style Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public. X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More Tags:Explained LawExpress Explained