The CBI on Monday opposed in a special court the plea of ex Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda seeking summons to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and two others as additional accused in a coal scam case, saying the application was “devoid of any merits”.
Special Public Prosecutor R.S. Cheema told the court that the records of the case not even prima facie suggest that the then Prime Minister, who was also Coal Minister at that time, was part of any conspiracy in allocating a coal block to Jindal Group firms.
“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,” Cheema told Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar.
He said that a comprehensive and complete probe has been conducted by CBI in the case and they do not find any reason which would lead to summoning of the then Prime Minister as accused in the case.
‘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 court, after hearing the submissions, reserved its order on Koda’s plea for October 16.
Earlier, former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao had supported Koda’s plea for summoning of Manmohan Singh while claiming that the office of the then Prime Minister had allocated a coal block to Jindal group after examining and re-examining the matter.
