The Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted the two closure reports filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the coal block allocation case involving the late former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, setting aside the trial court’s orders rejecting the closure reports and summoning him to face trial.
At the outset, Senior AdvocateKapil Sibal, appearing for Dr. Singh’s legal representatives, requested the Court to dispose of the matter and expunge the adverse observations made by the Special Judge, submitting that those remarks ought not to remain on record in view of Dr. Singh’s demise.
The Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana noted that although appeals ordinarily abate on the death of an accused, it had examined the record to determine whether there was sufficient material to justify the Special Judge’s decision to reject the CBI’s closure reports. Reading from the operative portion of the judgment, the Court observed:
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“Ordinarily, the appeal would stand disposed of on the demise of the appellant. However, in order to appreciate whether there was sufficient material and good reason on record to take cognisance and consequently summon the appellant to face trial, we have gone through both the closure reports filed by the CBI. Having regard to the well-settled parameters governing acceptance or rejection of investigation reports, we are satisfied that there were no compelling reasons for the learned Special Judge to reject the closure reports filed by the CBI and take cognisance against the appellant.”
Accordingly, the Court allowed the appeal, set aside the impugned order along with the subsequent order of the Special Judge, accepted the two closure reports filed by the CBI and closed the proceedings against Dr. Manmohan Singh.
The Bench clarified that its decision was confined to Dr. Manmohan Singh’s appeal and would not affect the connected appeals filed by the other accused, which would be heard separately.