India’s Supreme Court has cleared late former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in a coal allocation case, declaring closure of proceedings against him on Wednesday. The decision, reported on July 29, 2026, came about a year and a half after Singh’s death in 2024. The case concerned alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal mines in Odisha while the UPA government was in power.

Singh held the coal ministry portfolio at the time, while allegations were also raised against the then coal secretary. The report says the CBI questioned officials in the prime minister’s secretariat but was accused of not questioning Singh, an issue that was also raised before the court. Singh had rejected the allegations from the beginning. In 2015, the CBI submitted to the court information obtained after questioning him.

The Supreme Court said the trial court had no strong basis to reject the CBI’s closure report and take cognizance of the matter. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohanan announced the decision after accepting Singh’s challenge to summons issued by the trial court in 2015. Congress welcomed the ruling and demanded that the prime minister apologize to the country.