New Delhi: Former Prime Minister late Dr Manmohan Singh was on Wednesday formally exonerated in the coal block allocation case after the Supreme Court quashed a 2015 Special CBI Court order summoning him to face trial, holding that there were no cogent reasons to reject the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) closure reports that had given him a clean chit.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana allowed Singh's appeal and set aside the March 11, 2015 order of the Special Judge, Patiala House Courts, which had rejected the CBI's closure reports and taken cognisance against the former Prime Minister under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In its order, the CJI Kant-led Bench said, "We have gone through both the closure reports filed by the CBI with the able assistance of learned senior counsels for the parties."
"Having regard to the parameters consistently laid down by this Court in the matter of acceptance or rejection of an investigation report filed by an investigating agency, we are satisfied that there were no cogent reasons to set aside the closure reports filed by the CBI and take cognisance," the bench said. (IANS)
Also Read: Centre Initiates Plans to Establish Memorial Honouring Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh