Hyderabad, Jul 31: BRS Working President K T Rama Rao and other accused in the Formula E race case appeared before a local court on Friday which adjourned the matter to August 25.
Rao, other accused, including bureaucrat Arvind Kumar, appeared before the ACB court as per its directives.
It was Rao’s first appearance after the chargesheet was filed in the case in March this year and he submitted a personal bond of Rs one lakh.
The trial has not begun in the case, Laxman Jakkua, an advocate representing Rao, told PTI Videos.
The Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau filed a chargesheet in March in the Formula E race case in which Rao is the prime accused.
The chargesheet also names senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority chief engineer B L N Reddy, and two others.
The probe pertains to alleged irregularities in payments of around Rs 55 crore, mostly in foreign currency, in violation of laid-down procedures during the previous BRS government for the Formula E race planned for 2024.
While the inaugural race was held in Hyderabad in February 2023, the second edition scheduled for 2024 was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.
The ACB had registered a case in December 2024 against Rao, Kumar, and Reddy under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code, invoking charges, including criminal misappropriation, breach of trust, and conspiracy.
The then Governor Jishnu Dev Varma sanctioned prosecution of Rao in November last year, while the Centre allowed it in the case of Kumar.
Rao has denied the allegations, saying, “the decision to transfer funds to the race organisers was taken to promote Hyderabad’s image and there was no corruption involved.”
“The money sent by the government lies with the organisers, and there is no corruption in the matter,” he had claimed. (PTI)
