Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Thursday said the Sangh Parivar and a section of media that had "hounded" former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the coal block allocation scam should apologise to him following his acquittal by the Supreme Court.
In posts on Facebook and 'X', Satheesan quoted a line by Singh -- "Let history judge what I did and did not do. I believe history will be kinder to me than the media" -- and said that the late Congress leader was right.
"How right you were, #DrManmohanSingh Ji. Looking back at where the nation would be without your leadership only reveals your true greatness. Yesterday, the Supreme Court put an end to the 11-year coal block allocation case, firmly rejecting the lower court's stance against him and declaring him completely innocent," the CM said in his 'X' post.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed a criminal case against Singh in a coal block allocation case while setting aside a summoning order passed against him.
Singh, who passed away on December 27, 2024, now stands formally acquitted in the high-profile criminal case.
The top court had said there was no reason for the trial court judge to turn down the closure reports of CBI and take cognisance.
Satheesan, in his Facebook post, further said that "the Sangh Parivar and a section of the media that hounded him over a non-existent scandal owe him a sincere apology." He further said that Singh was a strong and compassionate leader as well as true statesman whose dedicated service and unwavering integrity will remain forever etched in the nation's memory.
Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, ex-coal secretary P C Parakh and three others were summoned as accused by a special court in a coal scam case pertaining to allocation of Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005.
Singh had questioned the absence of the mandated sanction for prosecuting public officials like him, and denied any criminality in his decision concerning the coal block allocation.
The case pertains to the allocation of Talabira II coal block in Odisha to M/s Hindalco in 2005, when the then PM Singh was holding the coal portfolio.