KTR Appears Before ACB Court in Formula E Case, Hearing Adjourned to August 25

Hyderabad, July 2026 : Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former Telangana Minister K. T. Rama Rao appeared before the Special ACB Court in Hyderabad on Friday in connection with the Formula E-car race case.

Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, appeared before the court along with other accused in response to summons issued in May. Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) Chief Engineer B. L. N. Reddy, who are also accused in the case, were present in court.

KTR and the other accused completed the required legal formalities and furnished sureties of Rs 1 lakh each. After completing the proceedings, the court adjourned further hearing in the case to August 25.

The appearance of KTR drew considerable attention, with several senior BRS leaders and supporters gathering at the Nampally Court Complex to express solidarity with the party’s working president. Former Ministers Sabita Indra Reddy and Mahmood Ali, MLA Kaushik Reddy, BRS leader Praveen Kumar and several other party leaders were among those present.

The case relates to alleged financial irregularities in the organisation of the Formula E race in Hyderabad during the previous BRS government. According to the chargesheet filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in March 2026, around Rs 55 crore was allegedly transferred to a foreign company in violation of prescribed norms in connection with the event.

KTR has been named Accused No. 1 in the case concerning alleged misappropriation of public funds. The ACB has questioned KTR, Arvind Kumar and B. L. N. Reddy several times during its investigation.

KTR was questioned by the investigating agency on four occasions and has repeatedly rejected the allegations, describing the Formula E case as a “bogus case.”

The case dates back to December 2024, when the ACB registered an FIR against KTR, Arvind Kumar, and B. L. N. Reddy over alleged irregularities amounting to Rs 54.88 crore in connection with the Formula E event.

The investigation subsequently continued for several months. In September, the ACB submitted its report to the Telangana government and sought the Governor’s sanction to prosecute KTR, Arvind Kumar and others.

In November last year, then Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma granted permission for KTR’s prosecution in the case.

The FIR was registered following a complaint by M. Dana Kishore, Principal Secretary of the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department. The complaint alleged that foreign remittances connected with the Formula E event were made without obtaining prior approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities.

According to the complaint, the transactions allegedly resulted in an additional tax burden of approximately Rs 8.06 crore on the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority.

The ACB has also alleged that KTR received Rs 44 crore in the form of an electoral bond from a sponsorship company in connection with granting it the right to organise the race. These allegations form part of the broader investigation into the financial transactions and decision-making surrounding the event.

The Formula E race was held in Hyderabad during the previous BRS government and was projected as a major international sporting event for the city. The subsequent controversy centred on alleged procedural violations and financial transactions involving government agencies.

With KTR and the other accused now appearing before the court and completing the bail-related formalities, the case will proceed to the next stage of judicial examination. The Special ACB Court is scheduled to take up the matter again on August 25.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)