By Newsgram Staff Writer

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh was today summoned by a special court as an accused in a coal block allocation case.

Special Judge Bharat Parashar also summoned industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former coal secretary PC Parakh and three others as an accused.

The charges against Manmohan Singh and the others include criminal conspiracy, corruption and breach of trust.

Former Prime Minister was reportedly questioned by the CBI in January in connection with the allocation of a coal field in Odisha's Talabira block in 2005 to Hindalco. At the time, Singh held direct charge of the Coal Ministry.

Hindalco, which is part of the $40 billion Aditya Birla Group, had first been refused the coal field it sought, but the decision was later reversed.