Telangana High Court refuses to quash FIR against BRS MLA KT Rama Rao in Formula E Race case

The Telangana High Court on Tuesday refused to quash the first information report (FIR) lodged against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao in connection with the Formula E race funding case..Justice K Lakshman dismissed the plea filed by Rao to quash the case and also rejected the request by Rao's counsel for a stay on his arrest for ten days to enable him to file an appeal against the order.Rao has been booked for criminal breach of trust under Section 409 of the the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.The Court today observed that a prima facie case had been made out against Rao to warrant a criminal investigation. "The allegations indicate that the Petitioner (KTR) herein without any approval from the State Cabinet of the finance department directed the HMDA (Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority) to pay huge sums of money to a foreign company. Whether the Petitioner directed the said payments with a dishonest intention to cause gain to himself or third parties is required to be investigated. The allegations when read together make out a prima facie case of wrong doing and misappropriation of funds of the HMDA. The same are enough to warrant an investigation. Further, investigating agencies need to be given enough opportunity to investigate the allegations," it said, while dismissing Rao's plea. .The case involves allegations of corruption and irregularities in the transfer of funds by the BRS-led State government towards the conduct of a second season of the Formula E race in Hyderabad in 2023.The event was not conducted as it was eventually cancelled soon after the Congress government came to power.On December 18, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) received a complaint by the Congress-led government over funding irregularities alleged in the conduct of the event, and a first information report (FIR) was registered against three persons including Rao accusing them of various offences including under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Rao then moved an urgent plea to quash the case.During hearings, KTR's counsel, Senior Advocate C Aryama Sundaram, argued that it was a case of political and personal vendetta and that KTR cannot be prosecuted simply on account of a policy decision taken in 2023.He added that the BRS regime had taken a decision to step in to fund the Formula E event in October 2023 after sponsors pulled out, to prevent loss of revenue to the State and since the event had already been widely advertised.The State, represented by Advocate General (AG) Sudarshan Reddy, countered that the FIR was registered after the government conducted a preliminary inquiry and that even the Governor had granted sanction to go ahead with the prosecution on December 17.He added that there were grave allegations involved against KTR, including that he sent crores of money to a foreign entity, without consulting the relevant State authorities or departments, and even before a contract was finalised.On December 20, the Court granted interim protection from arrest to Rao.Subsequently, the matter was then heard at length before the Court proceeded to reject the plea today..Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave and Advocate A Prabhakar Rao also appeared for KTR.Apart from AG Reddy, Senior Advocate CV Mohan Reddy, Additional Advocate General Tera Rajnikanth Reddy and the ACB's standing counsel T Bala Mohan Reddy also appeared for the respondent-authorities. .[Read Judgment]