The highly debated Formula E-Race case has reached a crucial stage in state politics. The state government has asked the Governor to grant permission for prosecution of BRS Executive President former minister KT Rama Rao, who is the A1 accused in the case. Reliable sources said that the relevant file has reached the Raj Bhavan from the Chief Secretary to the government.
Governor Jishnu Dev Verma, who received this file, is reportedly examining the legal aspects on this. The Governor is likely to take a final decision after their suggestions. Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which has undertaken an in-depth investigation into this case, had asked the government to grant permission for prosecution against KTR and other accused.
The Vigilance Commissioner, who examined the ACB report, also gave the green light for this. Based on these recommendations, the government has now sent the file forward for the Governor’s approval. It seems that the ACB has clarified in its report that many rules have been violated, from the Formula E-Race agreement to the payment of funds.
It has been stated that the government exchequer suffered a loss of Rs. 54.88 crore due to the payment of money in foreign currency in two installments without any prior permission. The ACB has said that they have solid evidence to say that the entire process was done on the orders of KTR, who was the then Municipal Administration Minister.
Along with KTR, the ACB has named IAS officer Arvind Kumar, Chief Engineer BLN Reddy, Formula E-Operations (FEO) company and Ace NextGen company as accused in this case. The permission of the central government is mandatory to take action against IAS officer Arvind Kumar under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
With this, it is learnt that the state government will soon write a letter to the central department of personnel and affairs seeking permission to prosecute him. It is known that the ACB registered this case last year on a complaint filed by Municipal Secretary Dana Kishore that HMDA funds were paid without cabinet approval.