Manmohan moves SC against summons in coal block case

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to him by a special court over the allocation of Talabira II coal block in Odisha to Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Hindalco in 2005.

The matter is likely to be mentioned for an early hearing on Thursday.

Special Court Judge Bharat Parashar, who is holding trial of cases rooted in coal block allocation scam, on March 11 summoned Manmohan Singh as an accused for allocating the coal block to Hindalco.

Besides the former prime minister, the Special Court also summoned Birla and the former coal secretary P.C. Parakh.

The three were summoned for offences of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. - IANS