FORMER Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh faced court yesterday charged with criminal conspiracy and breach of trust for alleged involvement in a scandal over the sale of coalfields.

Judges ordered Mr Singh (pictured) and five others to reappear on April 8.

The ex-PM had direct charge of the Coal Ministry in the Congress-led government when some of the allocations to private firms were made.

He was quizzed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in January about the allocation of a coalfield in Odisha state in 2005.

“I am sure that the truth will prevail and I will get a chance to put forward my case with all the facts,” said Mr Singh.

India’s Supreme Court ruled last year that all 218 allocations of coal reserves from 1993 to 2010 had been carried out under arbitrary procedures that lacked fairness and transparency. It cancelled all of them.

Mr Singh’s government was accused by critics of costing India’s treasury billions of pounds.