Coal scam: Court to hear Hindalco's case on October 19

A special court today decided to hear next month a coal block allocation case in which the Supreme Court has stayed the summons issued against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and others.
The court posted the matter for October 19 as operation of its order summoning Manmohan Singh, Birla and others as accused has been stayed by the apex court.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar had on December 16 last year refused to accept CBI's closure report in the case and directed the agency to further probe the matter and examine Singh, who was also holding the coal portfolio then, and other PMO officials.

CBI had later filed a supplementary final report in the court which had on March 11 summoned Singh, Birla, former Coal Secretary P C Parakh, Hindalco Industries Ltd and its two top officials Shubhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya in the case pertaining to allocation of Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005.
The apex court on April 1 had stayed the trial court order summoning them as accused and the proceedings before it.
In his plea in the apex court, Singh had contended that the trial court had exceeded its jurisdiction by attributing criminality in administrative decisions of the Prime Minister.

The plea had said the trial court's decision to summon the former Prime Minister was a "grave mistake both in law" and "understanding of evidence".
The special court, in its March 11 order, had said it was prima facie clear that "there was a concerted joint effort" by Parakh and Singh to "somehow accommodate M/s Hindalco in Talabira-II, coal block."
It had summoned the six accused for the alleged offences punishable under sections 120-B (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.