The summoning of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as an accused in a criminal case in the ongoing ‘coal scam’ saga is a watershed development in our polity. This is only the second instance, after the late PV Narasimha Rao was charged in the JMM bribery case, of a former Prime Minister being made to appear in court as an accused in a criminal case. Apart from underscoring the independence and robustness of our judiciary, which ensures that even the highest of the land are not exempt from the law, the move has far-reaching implications, not just for politics, but for future policymaking. The Special Court hearing the case filed by the CBI regarding alleged irregularities in the allocation of the Talabira II coal block to Hindalco has summoned Singh, former Coal Secretary PC Parakh, who headed the screening committee which looked into the allotments, and industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, whose firm Hindalco was the beneficiary of the allotment. The three, along with other executives of Hindalco, have been charged under different provisions ranging from Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) of the IPC, as well as Section 13(1)(c) and Section 13(1)(d)(3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. While the first covers misappropriation of public property (or allowing others to do so), the second relates to obtaining pecuniary advantage for third parties by a public servant, without any significant public interest involved in the act.

The charges are grave and given the lack of a financial trail, it is unclear what evidence can be marshalled to prove there was a conspiracy to misappropriate public property. But the development highlights India’s controversy-ridden history of allocation of publicly-owned resources to private parties, as well as the risks and difficulties involved in balancing public good versus private profit. Former telecom minister A Raja’s defence in the 2G spectrum case — Raja has also been charged under Section 409 — as well as the then UPA government’s defence in the coal block allocations have been that they were only following the procedure in place at the time. That the procedure may have been flawed is a different question. It is pertinent to note that both Parakh and Singh favoured auctions, but the government failed to adopt that route.

The issue before the Court is whether this deviation was, as alleged, due to ‘criminal conspiracy’, or, as Singh has stated, mere exercise of executive authority after weighing the wishes of the Odisha State government, which said it was in favour of the coal block being awarded to Hindalco. Given the gravity of the issue, it is essential that the CBI carries out the investigations in a transparent and fair manner and that the case is brought to a speedy and just conclusion. Anything else will cause irreparable harm to the economy.

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