The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by KT Rama Rao, an MLA of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), seeking quashing of an FIR lodged against him over alleged irregularities in the conduct of Formula-E race at Hyderabad.
The Bench of Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice PB Varale refused to entertain the petition, which challenged the Telangana High Court order of January 7.
On January 7, the single-judge Bench of Justice K Lakshman of the Telangana High Court refused to quash the FIR lodged against Rao on the grounds that a prima facie case had been made out against the BRS MLA to warrant a criminal investigation.
Telangana Police had booked Rao under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants) and Section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Sections 13(1)(a) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act over allegations of corruption and irregularities in the transfer of funds by the BRS-led government in Telangana towards the conduct of a second season of Formula E race in Hyderabad in 2023.
The event was not conducted as it was eventually cancelled, soon after the Congress government came to power.
On December 18, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) received a complaint by the Congress-led government over funding irregularities alleged in the conduct of the event. A first information report (FIR) was registered against three persons, including Rao, accusing them of various offences, including under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Rao had filed a petition in the High Court seeking quashing of the case.
On December 20, 2024, the High Court granted interim protection from arrest to Rao, which was extended on December 31.
Pointing to the substantial delay in registration of the FIR after 14 months of the incident, the Counsel appearing for Rao before the High Court termed the FIR as politically-motivated, premature and instituted without conducting a preliminary enquiry, as mandated by multiple Supreme Court judgements.
The Counsel alleged that the State had stepped into the shoes of the sponsors, who were to fund the Formula-E races originally, but later backed out.
It said based on a complaint registered 14 months after the alleged offence, the investigating authority went ahead and registered the FIR without even as much as conducting an preliminary inquiry.
The prosecution alleged in the High Court that when Rao was the Minister for the Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD), he did not take approvals regarding the organisation of the event.
The prosecution further said that there were serious flaws in the approvals, which were not in accordance with the relevant business rules.
Noting that prima facie, there were irregularity and misappropriation of funds in the matter, the State contended that a complete picture could only emerge after a thorough investigation and after all relevant facts were brought to light.
Responding to the allegation that no preliminary investigation was conducted, the State contended that prior permission was also taken from the Governor before initiating a complaint, which was indicative of procedural compliance.