Telangana HC Extends Protection Against KT Rama Rao's Arrest In Formula E-Racing Case
The case against KTR pertains to alleged payments of about Rs 55 crore, some of it in foreign currency without approvals to conduct a Formula-E race in Hyderabad.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao got a much-needed relief as the Telangana High Court extended interim protection against his arrest in the Formula E-Race case.
The court reserved its order on the petition filed by Rama Rao, also known as KTR, seeking to quash the FIR registered against him by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the case.
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Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy pointed out that payments were made to Formula E Organisation without following business rules and necessary approvals while the defence advocates argued that there was no criminality in the case.
The Telangana ACB on December 19 registered a case against Rama Rao, a minister in the BRS regime, over alleged payments, part of it in foreign currency without approvals, made to conduct Formula-E race in Hyderabad during the previous BRS regime.
After hearing the arguments from the state government as well as the defence, Justice K Lakshman reserved the orders.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned the BRS working president, enior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) chief engineer B.L.N. Reddy in connection with the case.
The central agency had asked KT Rama Rao to appear before it on January 7, while Arvind Kumar and Reddy have been directed to appear on January 2 and 3, respectively. The ED is conducting the probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on an FIR filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
This is the second money laundering case against the family of BRS chief Chandrashekhar Rao as his daughter K Kavitha was questioned and later arrested by the ED in the Delhi excise policy case.
The probe against 48-year-old Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, pertains to alleged payments of about Rs 55 crore, some of it in foreign currency without approvals, to conduct a Formula-E race in Hyderabad during the previous regime in February last year.
(with inputs from agencies)
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