Am upset, will prove my innocence: Manmohan Singh on summons

"I am upset," reacted former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was today summoned as an accused by a special court in a coal scam case, but expressed confidence that he will prove his innocence in a fair trial.

"Of course, I am upset but this is part of life," he told reporters here when asked for his reaction on the court order.

"I have always said I am open for legal scrutiny...I am sure the truth will prevail and I will get a chance to put forward my case with all the facts," Singh said.

He said he respected the judicial process in the country and "I hope in a fair trial I will prove my innocence."

Singh, who was Coal Minister in 2005 when the government allocated Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005 to HINDALCO, said he had made a statement before the CBI and as Prime Minister he had issued a statement "justifying what we did".

Asked whether he would contest the case, he said he would discuss the issue with his legal team.

Earlier in the day, a special court here summoned Singh along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, ex-coal secretary P C Parakh and three others as accused in a case pertaining to allocation of Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005 and asked them to appear before it on April 8.