No evidence against ex-PM in coal scam case, CBI tells court

Opposing the summoning of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the CBI on Monday told a special court that there was no evidence which even prima facie suggests that he was part of any conspiracy in the allocation of a coal block to Naveen Jindal Group firms.

Arguing on the plea of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, who has sought summoning of Singh and two others as additional accused in a coal scam case, special public prosecutor R S Cheema said that the application was “devoid of any merits”.

Cheema told Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar that records of the case do not reflect that Singh, who held the Coal Portfolio at that time, had any complicity with any accused in any manner and there was no evidence to show that he had acted in a “mechanical manner” in the entire process. “The present application is a device worked out by accused person so as to not only delay the present trial but also deviate the court from the case,” he said. The prosecutor also said that a comprehensive and complete probe has been conducted by CBI in the case and the court did not find any fault in it while summoning 15 accused, including Koda, who were chargesheeted.

“The records not even prima facie show anything to summon the then Prime Minister as accused in the case. The evidence does not show any complicity on the part of the then Prime Minister in allocation of coal block,” Cheema said. “The application is devoid of any merits. Investigation in the case is comprehensive and complete in all respect. We find no reasons to summon additional accused in the case now,” he said.