Coal Scam: Former PM Manmohan Singh, Kumar Mangalam Birla Summoned As Accused

NEW DELHI: A special court summoned former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary PC Parakh as accused in a coal scam case pertaining to allocation of Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005.

Besides these three, the court also summoned M/s Hindalco, its officials Shubhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya as accused in the case.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar summoned the six accused on April 8 for the 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 (PCA).

If convicted, the accused are liable to be sentenced for a maximum of life imprisonment.

Most coal blocks awarded during the regime of Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, which ran India for a decade until last year, were overturned by the Supreme Court after it ruled the process illegal. The current NDA government is in the process of re-auctioning the coal blocks.

CBI, in its FIR, had named Parakh, Birla, M/s Hindalco Industries Ltd and other unknown persons for alleged offences under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and under provisions of the PCA. However, the agency had later on filed a closure report in the court, which had refused to accept it.

Pronouncing the order, the judge said, “I am taking cognisance of offences under Sections 120B, 409 of the IPC and under Sections 13(1)(c) and 13(1)(d)(3) of PCA against six accused, M/s Hindalco, Shubhendu Amitabh, D Bhattacharya, Kumar Mangalam Birla, P C Parakh and Dr Manmohan Singh.”

Section 13(1)(c) of PCA relates to a public servant dishonestly misappropriating property entrusted to him or allowing any other person to do so. Section 13(1)(d)(3) relates to a public servant obtaining any pecuniary advantage for any person without any public interest.

The court, in its December 16 last year order, had directed CBI to examine former Prime Minister Singh and some top officials of then Prime Minister Office (PMO), including Singh’s then Principal Secretary T K A Nair and then private secretary B V R Subramanyam. Parakh and Hindalco have denied any wrongdoing.

On January 27, the CBI had filed the progress report of its further investigation in a sealed cover before a special court in connection with a coal blocks allocation scam case allegedly involving former Coal Secretary P C Parakh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and others.

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