On Wednesday, the Supreme Court concluded the coal block allocation case concerning former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, exonerating him of any corruption allegations. The court ruled that there was inadequate evidence to support charges related to the allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha.

A three-judge panel led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant annulled the trial court’s decision that had dismissed two closure reports submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2014. The court noted that there was no valid reason to ignore the findings of the agency.

Although the court typically would have dismissed the appeal as moot due to Singh’s passing in December 2024, it chose to evaluate the case based on the merits after reviewing the CBI’s reports.

“We find no compelling reason for the Special Judge to have turned down the closure reports by the CBI and take cognizance of the case,”

the panel remarked in a succinct order. It concluded that there was no sufficient evidence or justification for pursuing a corruption case against Singh.

The apex court accepted Singh’s appeal, overturned the trial court’s ruling, and officially closed the case based on its merits.

The trial court had previously rejected the CBI’s closure reports.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A.M. Singhvi, representing Singh, informed the court that the CBI had submitted closure reports on August 27 and October 21, 2014, which indicated that there was no case against the former prime minister.