In a significant development fraught with far-reaching political consequences, Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma has granted permission to the state government to prosecute the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former minister KT Rama Rao in the Formula E Race case.
The case involves allegations of financial irregularities amounting to approximately Rs 55 crore during the Hyderabad Formula E racing event held under the previous BRS government.
Following the Governor’s nod, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is now expected to file the chargesheet soon.
The prosecution report was submitted to the government on September 9, naming KTR as the prime accused. This followed months of investigation, including extensive questioning of all three accused officials from January to July 2025. KTR appeared before the ACB twice.
The latest development comes close on the heels of an electoral setback in the Jubilee Hills assembly by-election in which the ruling Congress wrested the seat from the BRS.
The ACB concluded that there was a quid pro quo arrangement whereby KTR allegedly facilitated a contract with an event sponsor – Ace Nxt Gen, a subsidiary of renewable energy company Grenko, in exchange for electoral bonds worth Rs 45 crore.
The ACB’s findings indicated violations of statutory procedures and intent behind the rushed release of funds from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
The governor’s sanction enables the ACB to file a chargesheet and proceed with prosecution, although KTR has consistently denied wrongdoing, calling the case politically motivated and flimsy.
The permission comes after a period of delay where the prosecution sanction file was reportedly pending with the governor for around two months. KTR has already appeared before the ACB multiple times during the investigation.
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Formula E-race case
The case is related to alleged financial irregularities in funding one of the four seasons of the Formula E races in Hyderabad. To conduct the race, the Municipal Administration department under the former BRS government signed a tripartite agreement with Formula E Organisers (FEO) and Ace Nxt Gen Pvt limited in 2022. The ninth season of the car race was held in Hyderabad on 10 and 11 February 2023.
The promoter, Ace Nxt Gen, which was supposed to finance four seasons of the Formula E Race, dropped out unilaterally in the second season, citing losses in the first season. As the FEO was willing to organise the second season, the then Principal Secretary of the Municipal Administration Department Arvind Kumar, on the advice of the then Municipal Minister KTR, transferred Rs 55 crore to the FEO.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) then transferred the amount after dropping Ace Next Gen as the promoter. The government later included HMDA as the promoter.
The HMDA then entered into an MoU with FEO on 30 October 2023, which is considered another irregularity.
The other alleged irregularities included making payment of one tranche of money to FEO after the issue of the schedule for Assembly elections in Telangana without obtaining permission from the Election Commission and making payment to FEO in pounds without obtaining clearance from the RBI.
Soon after coming to power in December 2023, the Congress government has been digging into the alleged omissions and commissions of the previous regime and ordering probes into some of them.
The Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has been insisting that he would not resort to political vendetta against anyone, but he reiterated that if anyone had committed anything wrong, the law would take its course.
KTR unfazed
The BRS leader, however, remains unfazed by the allegations. The opposition leader said that after Ace Nxt Gen dropped out, he had asked the Municipal Administration Department to fill in for the promoter company till such time the FEO found a new promoter.
“I have not done anything wrong. I am prepared to go to jail. I will do yoga in jail for two months and come out slim and fit,” he asserted.
The former minister said he had advised the then special chief secretary, MAUD, Arvind Kumar, to pay the amount to FEO to prevent Hyderabad’s brand image from taking a hit. He said the Congress government scrapped the project, suspecting that he was a beneficiary of the project, which was baseless.
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