In a special court on Monday, the CBI opposed the plea of Madhu Koda, ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister, seeking summons as additional accused to Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister, and two others in a coal scam case. CBI says that the application was “devoid of any merits”. After hearing the submissions, the special court reserved its order on the plea of Mr. Koda for 16 October 2015.

R.S. Cheema, Special Public Prosecutor, told the court that records, not even prima facie, suggest the involvement of the then Prime Minister who was also the Coal Minister in the coal block cvto Jindal Group firms.

Cheema said to Bharat Parashar, the Special CBI Judge, that, “The present application is a device worked out by accused person so as to not only delay the present trial but also deviate the court from the case.”

According to Cheema, CBI has conducted comprehensive and complete probe in the case and found no reason leading to summoning of Manmohan Singh, who was the PM then, as the accused.

“The records not even prima facie show anything to summon the then Prime Minister as accused in the case. The evidence does not show any complicity on the part of the then Prime Minister in allocation of coal block,” Mr. Cheema added.

CBI also said that the other two persons to who summons were sought by Mr. Koda as additional accused in the coal scam case are just vital prosecution witnesses. The agency also said that they both were not shown by any evidence to be involved anywhere in the entire process.

-Sumana