Sibal 'saddened' at summons to Manmohan Singh in coal scam

Former union minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said that he was saddened by the summons to former prime minister Manmohan Singh in connection with the coal blocks allocation scam, and added that a man who always wanted to be on the right side of the law, has found himself in such a spot.

"The law has to take its course and we respect the law and the majesty of the law. But a citizen also has constitutional rights, his right to life and liberty and the procedures as envisaged under the law gives rights to citizens and those rights will be protected by us. I am, of course, personally saddened by the fact that summons have been issued to a Prime Minister," Sibal told the media here.

"In fact, he was extremely cautious as and when an issue came up. He said that we should always be on the right side of the law. So, a man who always wanted to be on the right side of the law, has found himself summoned by court. But, we will of course see it," he added.

Sibal, however, downplayed media queries of a political vendetta in the entire episode.

"I don't want to raise any questions and don't want to level any sort of allegations. But I would like to say that the Prime Minister used to take decisions taking into consideration the nation's future," he said.

Earlier in the day, a special CBI court summoned former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former coal secretary P C Parakh, Aditya Birla Group chairman K M Birla and three others in connection with the coal blocks allocation scam.

The court has summoned them on April 8 for offences of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and under provisions of prevention of corruption act.