Shashi Tharoor Responds to Supreme Court Ruling on Manmohan Singh

On Thursday, Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor expressed his thoughts regarding the Supreme Court's recent decision to dismiss the Talabira-II coal block allocation case against former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Tharoor emphasized that the late Singh, a prominent figure in Indian politics, never required a judicial affirmation of his integrity. In a post shared on the social media platform X, he remarked, "Irony just died again. The cleanest man in Indian politics did not need an SC certificate of his integrity. Instead, it is those who sought to implicate him in these charges who ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves." This statement reflects Tharoor's belief in Singh's unblemished reputation and the unjust nature of the accusations against him.

The Supreme Court's ruling, which came nearly two years after Singh's passing, effectively concluded an extensive legal struggle that lasted over eleven years, stemming from the allocation of the Talabira-II coal block located in Odisha. The decision was made by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who annulled a 2015 order from a Special CBI Court that had summoned Singh and five other individuals to stand trial. The apex court accepted two closure reports submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), both of which determined that there was inadequate evidence to support criminal charges against the accused. The court criticized the Special Judge for failing to provide sufficient justification for disregarding the CBI's findings and proceeding with the case against Singh and the others involved.