Formula E race case: Telangana HC refuses to quash FIR against BRS leader KTR

HYDERABAD: In a setback to BRS Working President KT Rama Rao, the Telangana High Court on Tuesday refused to quash the FIR against him in connection with the Formula E race issue, removing the protection against the arrest given to him.

On December 31, the HC had reserved its orders on the petition filed by the former minister after hearing the arguments made by the state government as well as the defence in the case registered by the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The court had earlier restricted ACB from arresting Rama Rao, son of BRS president and former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, until the orders were pronounced and the present order removed that protection.

Following the High Court’s verdict, Rama Rao held discussions with BRS leaders and legal advisors.

Senior BRS leader T Harish Rao alleged this is a false case foisted by A Revanth Reddy government as part of "diversion politics".

The state government has been facing severe opposition from the public with respect to the implementation of farmers financial assistance scheme 'Rythu Bandhu', he claimed.

He said they have been discussing with legal experts on the future course of action. “We know that these kind of false cases will be foisted against our leaders. We are prepared to face them,” Harish Rao said.

Telangana and its people are important for BRS, he told reporters here.

Harish Rao further said the High Court in its order stated that the investigation can be conducted in the case, but it did not say there is corruption. However, he added they would cooperate with the investigation.

When contacted, a senior member of Rama Rao's legal team told PTI they are yet to receive the High Court order copy, based on which they will take a call whether to approach the Supreme Court and also as per his client's decision.

During the arguments, Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy pointed out that payments were made to Formula E Organisation without following business rules and necessary approvals while the defence advocates argued that there was no criminality in the case.

The AG also argued that the case cannot be quashed at the FIR stage when the investigation is going on.

The ACB had last week served a notice to the BRS MLA to appear before it on January 6, but as he left the agency’s office without appearing before the officials on Monday, he was again issued fresh notice for appearance on January 9.

The ACB on December 19 registered a case against Rama Rao, also known as KTR, over alleged payments, some of it in foreign currency without approvals, to conduct the race in 2023 during the previous regime.

The case was registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC dealing with criminal misappropriation, criminal misconduct, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy that allegedly resulted in loss to the government exchequer to the tune of about Rs 55 crore.

Though the race was supposed to be held in February 2024 as well, it was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.

Rama Rao, who was Municipal Administration Minister during the previous BRS regime, was also summoned by the ED for questioning on January 7 over alleged irregularities in conducting the race in Hyderabad, though he sought time.

The FIR named Rama Rao, an MLA now, as prime accused, senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and retired bureaucrat BLN Reddy as accused no 2 and 3 respectively.