前印度总理辛格被控贪腐罪

A special court in India on Wednesday summoned former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to face corruption charges related to the sale of coal fields under his government.

Judges ordered Mr. Singh and five others in the case to appear on April 8.

The government sold more than 200 coal blocks during Mr. Singh's time, but India's national auditor said in 2012 that awarding the contracts without competitive bidding cost the government billions of dollars. The supreme court ruled last year the process was illegal.

The charges are part of a string of corruption allegations to hit the Congress party-led government during Mr. Singh's time as prime minister, which also included auditors reporting $40 billion in losses in the sale of mobile phone licenses and widespread graft during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Congress Party spokesman Manish Tewari said "the former government has absolutely nothing to hide" and that they conducted themselves with utmost transparency.

Mr. Singh was prime minister from 2004 until last year. He was replaced by Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party.