Manmohan Singh

A court in India has summoned former PM Manmohan Singh over a corruption scandal involving coal mining licences. Mr Singh and five others have been accused of criminal conspiracy and ordered to appear in court on 8 April. In 2012, federal auditors said India had lost $33 billion because coalfield rights were sold off cheaply. Mr Singh, whose government ran India for a decade until last year, said that he was "open for legal scrutiny" and that the "truth will prevail". On Wednesday, the court summoned Mr Singh over the allocation of a coal mining licence to Hindalco Industries in Orissa in 2005, at a time when he was prime minister and also held the coal ministry portfolio. He had been questioned about the licence by the federal Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in January. If found guilty, Mr Singh could be sentenced to jail for life, although it is said it is not likely. India is one of the largest producers of coal in the world and more than half of its commercial energy needs are met by coal.