Bizz Buzz Bureau Hyderabad

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 1 lakh. The trial has not begun in the case, Laxman Jakkula, advocate representing Rao, told media. 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 Rs55 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.