Formula E case: K T Rama Rao gets interim protection from arrest till December 30; probe to continue

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday granted temporary relief to BRS working president K T Rama Rao, directing ACB not to arrest him until December 30, in connection with the FIR alleging misuse of funds and irregularities in the conduct of the Formula E Race last year.

The high court posted the matter for next hearing to December 30.

KTR filed a petition in the Telangana High Court on Friday, seeking to quash the ACB case against him on alleged corruption in the Formula E race in Hyderabad. KTR submitted a lunch motion petition to Justice Shravan Kumar’s bench, requesting an urgent hearing.

Senior advocate C S Sundaram appeared for K T Rama Rao. In the interim order, the HC has directed that the BRS leader will not face arrest until December 30. The court has, however, said that the investigation will go on and directed K T Rama Rao to cooperate with the state agencies. There were speculations that K T Rama Rao would be arrested over the weekend.

Sundaram argued that the case was a political vendetta against the BRS leader. He asserted that the race's conduct was already under agreement, and there was no evidence of a criminal breach of trust or misappropriation.

"Charge is before you took a decision, you did not get approvals. When there was a change in government, the new government refused to pay the next installment. There is an arbitration pending. Mine may have been a wrong decision. The new government may have made a wise decision. But is it a case for Section 13(1)(a) PC Act?" Sundaram argued.

Arguing on behalf of the Telangana government, A Sudarshan Reddy said that quashing at this stage of the FIR cannot be permitted.

"During the course of the investigation, new people may be added. As I said, FIR is not an encyclopedia. Any amount over Rs 10 crore needs a government sanction. Here, Rs 54 crore were given without any sanction. Concurrence from the finance department was not obtained. No permission was taken from the government because A1 (KTR) approved it,” said Sudarshan Reddy.

Meanwhile, ruckus erupted in the Telangana Assembly as BRS members disrupted the House proceedings, demanding a discussion on the Formula E race. Later, they staged a walk out.

BRS legislators attempted to seize the speaker's podium, resulting in unruly and chaotic scenes. Shadnagar Congress MLA Veernapalli Shankar threw a paper ball at the protesting BRS MLAs, resulted in Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar adjourning the Telangana Assembly.

According to sources based on ACB FIR, Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered ECIR against K T Rama Rao and other two officials in alleged connection of money laundering and FEMA violations in Fund transfers to foreign companies in Formula-E Race.