KT Rama Rao moves High Court to quash ACB case in Formula E race

Hyderabad, Dec 20 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former minister K.T. Rama Rao has approached the Telangana High Court, seeking orders to quash the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) case booked against him for alleged corruption in organising the Formula E race.

Rama Rao filed a lunch motion petition before the Justice Shravan Kumar Bench.

The petitioner requested that the petition be taken up for hearing after lunch.

The ACB on Thursday registered a case against Rama Rao for alleged misuse of government funds in conducting Formula E race in Hyderabad last year when BRS was in power.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Sections 13(1)(A) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with Sections 409 and 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code.

It is alleged that on the direction of then industry minister Rama Rao, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority paid Rs.55 crore to a foreign company in violation of RBI guidelines.

The payments were reportedly made without obtaining approvals from the Cabinet or the Finance Department.

The ACB named Rama Rao as accused number one in the FIR and IAS officer and then HMDA Commissioner Arvind Kumar and former HMDA Chief Engineer BLN Reddy have been named as accused number two and three respectively.

The ACB registered the FIR a few days after Governor Jishnu Dev Varma gave permission to try Rama Rao on a request made by the state government.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday night, Rama Rao denied the allegations and revealed details of the transaction.

Rama Rao said it was a fact that HMDA paid Rs.55 crore to organisers while the organisers also confirmed that they received Rs.55 crore.

He asked the state government to explain where was the corruption in this transaction. Accusing the government of political vendetta, the BRS leader claimed that the Formula E Race held last year was an attempt to enhance the brand image of Hyderabad and Telangana.

Recalling that the Formula-E Race was contracted for four seasons on October 25, 2022, the former minister said the intention was to make Telangana a hub for Electric Vehicles (EV).

Rama Rao clarified that the HMDA had adhered to legal provisions, and funds were transparently transferred through government bank channels.

He emphasised that Hyderabad had gained global recognition through the Formula E event, attracting significant investments in the EV sector.

However, the state government’s inept handling of the situation caused reputational damage to Hyderabad and Telangana on the international stage.

Accusing the government of filing baseless and politically motivated cases to divert public attention from its administrative failures, he said that he was not afraid of anybody and that he would face the case legally.