Formula E race case: Telangana ACB files charge sheet against BRS leader Rama Rao, four others

Hyderabad: The Telangana ACB has filed a charge sheet in a court here in the Formula E race case in which BRS Working President K T Rama Rao is the prime accused.

The charge sheet, filed on Monday, also names senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority chief engineer B L N Reddy, and two others.

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The probe pertains to alleged irregularities in payments of around Rs 55 crore, mostly in foreign currency, for the Formula E race planned for 2024 during the previous BRS government.

The payment allegedly violated laid-down procedures.

The race was held in Hyderabad in February 2023, while the second edition, scheduled for 2024, was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.

In December 2024, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered a case against Rama Rao, Kumar, and Reddy under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code, for charges including criminal misappropriation, breach of trust, and conspiracy.

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The then governor Jishnu Dev Varma had granted sanction for the prosecution of Rama Rao in November last year, while the Centre cleared the prosecution of Arvind Kumar last month.

Rama Rao has denied the allegations, saying the decision to transfer funds to the race organisers was taken to promote Hyderabad's image and there was no corruption involved.

The money sent by the government lies with the organisers, and there is no corruption in the matter, Rao had claimed.