The Telangana High Court granted temporary relief to BRS working president and Siricilla MLA KTR in Formula E race case in which he was implicated as Accused No 1 by the Anti-Corruption Bureau which launched a probe into the alleged 55 Crore misappropriation. Hearing KTR’s petition to quash the FIR, the High Court ordered the ACB not to arrest him for a week and also asked the former Minister to co-operate with the investigation. The court asked the agency to file counter plea by December 30th.
Following allegations that gross irregularities and misuse of power resulted in diversion of money to a foreign company without cabinet clearance and flouting of RBI norms in the name of Formula E race by the HMDA under the guidance of Municipal Administration and Urban Development led by KTR during the BRS regime, the Congress government directed the ACB to launch a detailed probe into the case. Based on this, the ACB lodged an FIR on KTR and others with charges including mismanagement of funds, breach of trust, and violations of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
KTR has been named the prime accused, with former Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar and former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) Chief Engineer BLN Reddy as the second and third accused. According to the FIR, the HMDA reportedly transferred Rs 45 crore in two installments, violating RBI guidelines. This led to a Rs 8 crore fine imposed on the Telangana government by the RBI, which was later paid by the Congress government after assuming office in December 2023.
KTR categorically denied the allegations and slammed the Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for resorting to political vendetta against his family. He challenged the Congress government for an open debate in the assembly. On Friday, he filed a lunch motion petition to quash the FIR and sought protection in the case to avoid arrest. As there is no adequate prima facie evidence, the High Court has granted him some interim relief by directing the ACB not to take any action against him.
How the case unfolds in the coming days will be interesting to watch out for because it will have huge implications on the political scene of Telangana.