Hyderabad: Telangana governor Jishnu Dev Verma on Thursday, November 20 granted permission to the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to file a charge sheet against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao in connection with the Formula E case.
The former Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister has been accused of alleged misappropriation of Rs 54.88 crore in public funds. According to reports, the governor granted the approval for the charge sheet two days ago.
On September 9, the ACB submitted its prosecution report, naming KTR as the prime accused to the Telangana government. Officials involved the Formula E case were interrogated from January-July 2025, KTR appeared before the ACB twice during this period.
Case against KTR political vendetta: Harish Rao
Reacting to the governor’s permission to file charge sheet against KTR, BRS MLA Harish Rao called the move a political vendetta.
“It is despicable for chief minister A Revanth Reddy, who holds a Constitutional position, to attempt to silence the voices that question him,” Rao said in post on X.
The Siddipet MLA further said that fragile cases against KTR will not demoralise, the BRS working president.
ED to verify chargesheet
The Enforcement Directorate (ES) will examine the charge sheet after the ACB files it against KTR. The ED will also file a separate plea for prosecution in the Formula -E case. The current order of the governor will not have an impact on the plea filed by the ED.
Background of the case
The case originates from a complaint filed on October 18, 2024 by M Dana Kishore, Principal Secretary of the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) department.
He alleged a loss of Rs54.88 crore to the State exchequer, claiming that the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) released payments to Formula-E Operations Limited (FEO) without the necessary Cabinet or Finance department approvals. The complaint was filed after the Congress came to power.
Following this, on December 19, 2024, the ACB booked a case against K.T. Rama Rao, former special chief secretary to MA&UD Arvind Kumar, and former HMDA chief engineer B. L. N. Reddy.
As per the FIR, Rs 45.7 crore was transferred to FEO between September and October 2023, even after the company had terminated its agreement with the Telangana government. Investigators stated that this transfer also resulted in an additional tax burden of Rs 8.06 crore, borne by the HMDA.
The ACB further noted that the tripartite agreement signed in October 2022 between the Telangana government, FEO, and event sponsor Ace Nxt Gen Pvt. Ltd., had capped the government’s financial liability.
However, disputes between FEO and Ace Nxt Gen allegedly led the Telangana government to assume financial responsibility without regulatory approval, ultimately causing significant financial losses.
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