FORMER PRIME MINISTER DR. MANMOHAN SINGH SUMMONED BY A SPECIAL COURT IN..

FORMER PRIME MINISTER DR. MANMOHAN SINGH SUMMONED BY A SPECIAL COURT IN CONNECTION TO COAL BLOCK ALLOCATION CASE

New Delhi:Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Wednesday was summoned as an accused by a special court in connection with the coal block allocation case involving KM Birla-owned Hindalco.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was  accused of criminal conspiracy in an inquiry into the award of coal fields during his term, in a blow for the Gandhi dynasty that ruled India until last year.

A special court under the Central Bureau of Investigation summoned the former prime minister along with billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla and another official to appear on April 8, a source said.

Most coal block awards made by Singh’s government, which ran India for a decade, were overturned by the Supreme Court after it ruled the process illegal late last year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which ousted Singh’s Congress-led administration last May, is now in the process of re-auctioning the fields in a process key to reducing India’s heavy dependence on coal imports.