Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao has written to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeking approval to prosecute IAS officer Arvind Kumar in the Formula E case, according to a report in the Newsmeter.
In late November, Telangana governor Jishnu Dev Verma had granted permission to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to file a charge sheet against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao in the same case.
On September 9, the ACB submitted its prosecution report to the Telangana government, naming KTR as the prime accused. The ACB had also sought permission to prosecute senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, named accused number two, and former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) chief engineer B L N Reddy.
Formula E case
The Formula E case came to light soon after the Congress party assumed power in Telangana, alleging that the previous BRS government spent Rs 54 crore, including Rs 8 crore in taxes, without the approval of the cabinet.
A memo was issued to Arvind Kumar, questioning the authorisation for this transaction.
On February 11, 2023, the first Formula E race was held at the banks of Hussain Sagar. Following the success of this event, MAUD entered into an agreement with Formula E Operations (FEO) for another race scheduled for February 10, 2024.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) paid Rs 55 crore to FEO as part of this agreement, which was established during the BRS tenure.
However, FEO later announced its withdrawal from hosting the race in January 2024, citing non-compliance with the terms outlined in their agreement. At the time of the agreement, BRS was in power, while Congress was in control when FEO decided to cancel.
