​​​​​​​Bhubaneswar/ New Delhi, July 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed the criminal proceedings against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Talabira-II coal block allocation case, quashing a special CBI court order that had summoned him as an accused.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana accepted the CBI's closure reports, which had exonerated Singh and the other accused in the case.

The apex court held that the trial court had no valid basis to reject the CBI's closure reports and proceed with taking cognisance of the matter.

"Although the appeal has become infructuous due to the unfortunate demise of the appellant, we examined the issue relating to the special judge's decision to take cognisance and summon the appellant. After considering both closure reports filed by the CBI and the legal principles governing acceptance of investigation reports, we are satisfied that there was no justification for rejecting the closure reports. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed, the impugned order is set aside, the closure reports are accepted, and the matter stands closed," the bench observed.

The case relates to the 2005 allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha. A special CBI court had summoned Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh, and three others as accused.

The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the special court's summoning order.

During the proceedings, Singh had argued that the prosecution was invalid as the mandatory sanction required to prosecute a public servant had not been obtained. He also denied any wrongdoing in the decision-making process relating to the coal block allocation.