The Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday registered a case against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) in connection with alleged irregularities in organising the Formula E car racing event held in Hyderabad in February last year. KTR, who is the son of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, has been named the primary accused in the case. The ACB has also named former Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) principal secretary Arvind Kumar as the second accused and former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) chief engineer BLN Reddy as the third accused.
Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma recently granted permission to register the case against Rama Rao, following a request from the state government, news agency PTI reported citing official sources. The FIR has been filed under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against KTR and two other officials involved in the event.
The Telangana government had formally approached the Governor in November, requesting permission to investigate the matter, the report stated. The Municipal Administration department had reportedly advised the ACB to probe the alleged irregularities, which include potential misuse of funds and procedural lapses in organizing the event.
What's the case?
Earlier this year, the government had sought an explanation from a senior bureaucrat over entering into the agreement concerning the Formula-E race allegedly without the approval of the competent authority and also making a payment of Rs 55 crore. Rama Rao, who was the Municipal Administration minister during the previous BRS regime, was instrumental in hosting the race last year in Hyderabad. Though the race was supposed to be held in February this year as well, it was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.
Rama Rao had on Tuesday said he would face the cases against him legally. Charging that the Congress government has been making baseless allegations against Rama Rao on the issue for several months now, BRS said the previous government had entered into an agreement with the organisers of Formula-E race to benefit Telangana.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ: KT Rama Rao sends legal notice to Telangana Minister over Samantha-Naga Chaitanya's divorce comments