Hyderabad, Jan 15 (IANS) With the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissing the FIR quash petition of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao in the Formula-E race case, the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is likely to summon him for questioning once again for alleged irregularities.

The ACB may also issue fresh notices to Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar and former chief engineer of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) BLN Reddy, who were already quizzed once in the case.

The former minister had approached the Supreme Court after the Telangana High Court on January 7 refused to quash the FIR filed by the ACB over alleged misappropriation of funds in the conduct of the Formula E Race.

The Supreme Court refused to intervene and stay the order given by the High Court.

The Division Bench, comprising Justices Bela M. Trivedi and PB Varale opined that a comprehensive investigation can be conducted into the case.

K.T. Rama Rao’s counsel Siddartha Dave appealed to allow him to withdraw the case with liberty to appear before the High Court.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared on behalf of the state government, opposed the appeal.

The apex court allowed K.T. Rama Rao’s counsel to withdraw the case but refused to give the liberty to go back to the High Court.

During the arguments, Siddhartha Dave submitted that the case was politically-motivated.

He argued that the case was registered against K.T. Rama Rao as he was in the Opposition.

The BRS leader had appeared before the ACB on January 9 and was questioned for over six hours focussing on his role as then minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) in signing the agreement to conduct the Formula-E race in 2023 when the BRS was in power.

The ACB last month registered an FIR against K.T. Rama Rao, Arvind Kumar and BLN Reddy for alleged irregularities in payment by the HMDA to Formula E Operations (FEO) and associated entities without adhering to established financial procedures.

The 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 was on October 25, 2022 that MA&UD department had entered into a tripartite agreement with FEO Limited and Ace Nxt Gen Private Limited (sponsor) for conducting Formula E races for 9, 10, 11 and 12 seasons in Hyderabad.

The ‘Season 9’ of the race was held on February 11, 2023, when the BRS government was in power. However, later the sponsor backed out citing financial losses. The HMDA which was under K.T. Rama Rao’s ministry transferred about Rs 55 crore to FEO.

The money in British Pounds was transferred allegedly without mandatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The Congress government that took over in December 2023 cancelled the E-race and also sought an enquiry into the transfer of government funds without following the norms and also the allegations of corruption.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also conducting a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on the FIR filed by the ACB.

The Central agency is looking into possible violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The ED has summoned K.T. Rama Rao to appear before it on January 16. The Central agency has already questioned the other two accused in the case.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS

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