Accused Indian ex-PM summoned to court in coal scandal case

Courts in New Delhi has summoned the former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday as he stands accused for alleged involvement in the coal block allocation scandal.

“Of course I am upset, but this is part of life. I am sure that the truth will prevail and I will get a chance to put my case forward with all of the facts. I have always said I am open for legal scrutiny,” Singh told journalists at the Indian Parliament upon hearing the news.

Judge Bharat Parashar summoned Singh, who has been asked to appear before the court on April 8, and five others including former Coal secretary PC Parakh, based on the final report of the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, on illegal granting of deposits.

The CBI started investigating the coal sector in 2012 as a result of revelations made in the same year by the Indian Comptroller and Auditor General, or CAG, which found a that the government failed to enter ?35 billion ($37 billion) between 2004 and 2012 due to its deficient policy of allocating coal blocks.

Last September the Supreme Court of India canceled 214 coal blocks granted by the government.

A reported 98 percent of the blocks granted from 1993 to 2011 were deemed illegal because they were given at cheap prices and without prior auction.

The Supreme Court ruled that all coal blocks granted to private companies should be closed within six months, leaving only four government affiliated will remain active.

The private companies that acquired the 214 coal grants will also reimburse Indian coffers with $5 per ton of coal extracted, an estimated value of about ?1.54 billion ($1.64 billion), according to local media.

The scandal, dubbed by the local press as ‘Coalgate’, adds to the series of controversies that have engulfed the Congress Party, which was in power when Singh was the prime minister.

Several analysts believe that corruption scandals and slow economic growth contributed to the crushing defeat in the May 2014 general elections of the Congress Party, already worn out after ten years of holding power.