Former PM Manmohan Singh examined by CBI in Coal scam

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has questioned former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation scam on Sunday, sources close to CBI’s prosecution team revealed on Tuesday.

The CBI refused to confirm any such development, with the official spokesperson Kanchan Prasad saying she had “no idea” of the same. PTI reported that a close aide of the former PM also denied the development. A senior CBI official, on condition of anonymity, told ET that CBI had contacted Singh’s office last Friday, seeking a time slot to examine the former PM but did not reveal if the questioning had been done subsequently. “The process has to be completed before January 27 — the next date of hearing in the special CBI court,” this senior CBI official said.

ET has learnt that the federal agency has recently questioned the former principal secretary to the Prime Minister, TKA Nair as well a former private secretary to Singh who currently occupies a senior position in the office of the present Prime Minister’s Office, according to sources familiar with the ongoing probe.

Nair flew down recently from Kerala to Delhi to be questioned by the CBI earlier this month, it is learnt.

The Special CBI court is examining the validity of a closure report filed by the CBI in a case arising out of the allocation of a coal block made to aluminium-maker Hindalco in 2005.