Supreme Court closes coal block case against former PM Manmohan Singh

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 29, 2026) closed the coal block allocation case against former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, accepting the Central Bureau of Investigation's closure reports that gave him a clean chit. A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant noted that there was no 'sufficient material or good reason' to register a corruption case against him.

The court observed that while the case could have been dismissed simply due to the death of the appellant (Singh passed away in December 2024), it examined the closure reports filed by the CBI in 2014. The Bench concluded that the trial judge had no 'compelling reason' to reject those reports and make adverse observations against the former Prime Minister.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A.M. Singhvi, representing Singh, argued that the CBI had filed closure reports on August 27, 2014, and October 21, 2014, but the Special Judge turned them down and took cognisance of the case on March 11, 2015, summoning Singh without waiting for sanction.

In its order, the Supreme Court stated: 'We find no compelling reason for the Special Judge to have turned down the closure reports by the CBI and take cognisance of the case… We allow the setting aside of the judgment and close the case on merits.'

The case pertained to the allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005. The Special Court had summoned Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former coal secretary P.C. Parakh, and three others for alleged corruption under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the summons.

Singh had challenged the lack of sanction for prosecution and denied any criminality in the allocation decision. With this ruling, the case is closed on its merits.