Coal case: SC stays summons to Manmohan

In a relief to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the summons issued by a special court in connection with the allocation of 15 percent share in the Talabira II coal block to Kumarmangalam Birla owned Hindalco.

The apex court bench of Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice C. Nagappan stayed the summons by the special court holding trial of coal scam cases as senior counsel Kapil Sibal questioning the March 11 order summoning Manmohan Singh asked where was the act of illegallity.

While staying the summons issued by the special court, the court issued notice to the CBI on a batch of petitions challenging the March 11 order.

The court also issued a notice to the central government on a writ petition by Kumarmangalam Birla challenging the constitutional validity of a section in prevention of corruption act.

Along with the former prime minister, the court also stayed the summons against industrialist Kumarmanglam Birla, former coal secretary P.C.Parakh, D. Bhattacharya and Hindalco.