Telangana High Court Delays Ruling on K.T. Rama Rao’s Petition in Formula-E Case
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Hyderabad, Dec 31 (NationPress) The Telangana High Court on Tuesday reserved its decision on the quash petition submitted by the working president of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former minister K.T. Rama Rao in the Formula-E race matter, instructing the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to refrain from arresting him until the court issues its ruling.
The High Court further extended the stay on its interim order, preventing the ACB from detaining K.T. Rama Rao until the final verdict is delivered.
After deliberating on the arguments presented by K.T. Rama Rao’s attorney Siddhartha Dave and Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy, Justice Lakshman reserved his judgment.
The ACB initiated a case against K.T. Rama Rao, senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, and former chief engineer of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) B.L.N. Reddy on December 29, alleging discrepancies in the organization of the Formula E car race last year.
K.T. Rama Rao submitted the petition seeking to nullify the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the ACB.
While representing the ACB, the Advocate General informed the court that Rs. 46 crore in British Pounds were remitted to Formula-E Operations Limited (FEO) in contravention of regulations, even before an agreement for season 10 of the Formula-E car race had been finalized.
Upon inquiry regarding the investigation's progress, the AG revealed that it is still in its preliminary stages.
The court was also made aware that the ACB has collected the testimony of M. Dana Kishore, the Principal Secretary for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, who is the complainant in this case.
The High Court was informed that the FIR was filed only after obtaining permission from the Governor.
The government’s legal representative told the court that the HMDA was required to secure approval from the Finance Department for expenditures exceeding Rs 10 crore, yet in this instance, it disbursed a total of Rs 54 crore without any authorization.
The court was advised that the Secretariat Business Rules were disregarded in this situation, with K.T. Rama Rao being the signatory on the note file.
His attorney Siddhartha Dave argued that the sections cited by the ACB in the FIR are unfounded and asserted that it was inappropriate to implicate K.T. Rama Rao as an accused in this matter.
He also noted that the Secretary of Municipal Administration was the one who signed the agreement for the Formula-E race.
The counsel for the BRS leader contended that the ACB has failed to present any substantiation of corruption.
He informed the court that K.T. Rama Rao did not stand to gain from the situation.
The ACB filed the FIR under Sections 13(1)(A) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as well as Sections 409 and 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code.
