The Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, granted posthumous relief to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by accepting two closure reports submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2014. The reports cleared him of involvement in the coal block allocation matter, noting insufficient grounds to pursue corruption charges. A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant observed that the trial court lacked valid basis to reject the agency reports and issue adverse remarks. Singh died in December 2024, yet the proceedings continued. Senior counsel argued the closure reports were filed in August and October 2014, but the special judge took cognisance in March 2015 without required approval. The court found no compelling reason to override the reports and set aside the earlier order, closing the matter on merits. The case concerned the 2005 allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha, which also named industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary P.C. Parakh among others.
