HC reserves order in KTR’s car race corruption case

Telangana High Court reserves orders in criminal case against K.T. Rama Rao over Formula-E race funds.

Justice K. Lakshman of Telangana High Court on Tuesday reserved orders in a criminal petition filed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former minister K.T. Rama Rao seeking to quash the criminal case registered against him by Anti-Corruption Bureau over ‘financial irregularities’ in releasing funds for Formula-E race held in Hyderabad in 2023. 

The judge also extended the order of protection from arrest earlier granted to KTR till the date of pronouncement of verdict in the petition. The judge sought clarifications on some points of the case as Supreme Court senior counsel Siddartha Dave and Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy presented their contentions on behalf of KTR and the State respectively for nearly three hours. 

Opposing the senior counsel’s contention that the case against KTR should be quashed since the sections of law invoked in it did not attract the specific ingredients, the AG said the probe was in the initial stages and ‘a lot’ was required to be investigated. The AG told the Bench that HMDA was not a party to the tripartite agreement between Formula E Operations (FEO) Limited, Ace Nxt Generation Private Limited (sponsor of the race) and the State government over conducting the motor car race in Hyderabad which was signed in 2022. 

Still, the HMDA paid crores of rupees to FEO which was in gross violation of the established procedures, the AG argued. He reiterated the point mentioned in the counter affidavit that foreign remittances were made by HMDA to FEO without acquiring permissions from the regulating agencies concerned. When the Bench raised a query what rules of foreign remittances were breached, the AG replied that already Enforcement Directorate had issued notices to KTR in this regard and those particular points were being probed by ED officials. 

Stating that FIR cannot be an encyclopaedia of entire case facts, the AG said sections of law can be invoked or deleted during the investigation. Whether there was criminal breach of trust (Section 405 of Indian Penal Code) in the present case would be answered only if the investigators were allowed to work and dig out facts, he said.

Senior counsel C.V. Mohan Reddy, appearing for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Principal Secretary Dana Kishore (State government), said that monies were sent abroad even before the agreement (second) relating to the car race was entered into. Prima facie the complaint lodged by Mr. Dana Kishore had the ingredients of criminal breach of trust. But how this money sent abroad reached whom and how it was routed needs to be investigated, he said. 

Siddartha Dave contended the allegations of ‘not getting prior approval’ and ‘not securing mandatory permissions’ for paying nearly ₹53 crore to FEO did not attract ingredients of criminal breach of trust. ‘Grave lapses and irregularities in gross violation of procedures’ stated in the complaint did not explain “what procedures were violated” in releasing the funds, the senior counsel from Supreme Court said. The government noticed these irregularities in 2023 but it did not take any steps to get back the money for next one year, he said.