Formula E Race: TG seeks Guv’s permission to prosecute KTR

Hyderabad: The state government has sought Governor Jishnu Dev Varma’s permission to prosecute former MAUD minister and BRS working president K T Rama Rao in the Formula race scam.

The Anti Corruption Bureau has been investigating into the irregularities in paying Rs 55 cr to the race organisers based out of London.

Confirming the development to Deccan Chronicle, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said ACB as an autonomous investigation agency into corruption by state employees and public representatives is empowered to take a decision based on its investigation.

“It is not a political decision. Even I came to know of it (ACB seeking Governor’s permission) as part of administrative process,” he told this correspondent during an exclusive interview at his residence on Thursday.

Rama Rao, according to senior bureaucrat Arvind Kumar, who worked as HMDA metropolitan commissioner approved the payment. The previous government flouted all rules including releasing the amount without obtaining prior permission from the RBI and the payments were made when the model code of conduct was in vogue.

“It seems KTR made the government agency pay Rs 55 cr to a foreign entity and from there routed to his overseas accounts,” the Chief Minister pointed out.

Deccan Chronicle earlier carried a report that the municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) department has written to the Anti-Corruption Bureau to probe into the scam. The government had earlier issued a memo seeking explanation from then MA&UD secretary Arvind Kumar.

Official sources told that the former MA&UD minister K.T. Rama Rao’s role would also be investigated since Arvind Kumar had categorically put the onus of permitting him to release funds to the organisers.

The accusations revolve around disbursement of Rs 55 crore to Formula E operations (FEO) from the HMDA’s resources, bypassing both the HMDA's board of directors and the state finance department.