In a significant development, the Telangana High Court on Tuesday declined to quash the FIR filed against BRS working president KT Rama Rao in connection with alleged irregularities surrounding the 2023 Formula E race.
With this decision, the protection against arrest previously granted to Rao has been lifted.
Earlier, on December 31, the court had reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from both the state government and Rao’s legal team. The High Court had restrained the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) from arresting Rao until the final ruling. With the latest order, that interim relief has now been withdrawn.
The ACB had registered the case on December 19, accusing Rao—popularly known as KTR—of approving payments, some in foreign currency, without proper authorization to facilitate the international racing event during the previous BRS administration. The FIR alleges violations under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including criminal misconduct, misappropriation, breach of trust, and conspiracy.
The irregularities reportedly caused a financial loss of approximately Rs.55 crore to the state exchequer.
While the Formula E race was initially planned to take place again in February 2024, it was canceled after the Congress government took office in December 2023.
Rama Rao, who was the Municipal Administration Minister during the BRS regime, has also been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning on January 7 regarding the suspected financial violations in organizing the event.
The FIR lists KTR as the prime accused, with senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and retired bureaucrat BLN Reddy named as accused numbers two and three, respectively.
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