Manmohan Singh summoned in coal scam case

New Delhi, March 11 : A special court here on Wednesday summoned former prime minister Manmohan Singh as accused in a coal block allocation case.

Special Judge Bharat Parashar also summoned industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former coal secretary P.C. Parakh, and three others to appear in the court on April 8.

They have been summoned for offences of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The case pertains to allocation of Talabira II coal block in Orissa to M/s Hindalco in 2005.

Meanwhile, commenting on the development, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that former prime minister Manmohan Singh was paying for the "sin" of the Congress party.

"It is a Congress' scam and because of the Congress' sin, Manmohan ji, the economist (former) prime minister, has to face this," Javadekar told reporters.

"Congress is responsible for bringing former PM to this threshold," he added.

Calling it "yet another blot on the Congress", Javadekar said all political parties siding with the Congress will now be forced to reconsider their stand.