When the Court Spoke, History Listened -The Manmohan Singh Smear Has Finally Met Its Reckoning
The Supreme Court did something last month that politics had failed to do for more than a decade: it separated allegation from evidence. By accepting the CBI’s closure reports and setting aside the trial court’s summoning order against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation case, the apex court brought an important chapter to a close. There was, it found, no “sufficient material or good reason” to pursue corruption charges against Singh. For a man whose political career was built largely on credibility, restraint and personal integrity, the significance of that finding goes beyond one legal case. It raises a larger question: how much damage can political rhetoric do before institutions finally have an opportunity to correct the record? Sonia Gandhi’s recent remarks should be seen in that context. They were not merely another Congress attempt to score political points. They were a reminder of how easily a carefully constructed public narrative can overpower fa...
