Hyderabad

BRS working president K T Rama Rao has filed a petition in a city court seeking discharge in the Formula-E race case.

Rao, the prime accused in the case registered in connection with the alleged irregularities in conducting the Formula -E race, recently filed the petition under relevant sections of the BNSS, to discharge him from the case.

The court issued a notice to ACB and posted the matter to October 30.

The discharge petition was filed contending that there was no prima facie evidence against Rao and that there was no misuse of funds among other grounds, J Laxman, one of the counsel of the BRS leader, said on Monday.

The Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau registered a case against former Minister Rao, senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority chief engineer B L N Reddy and others in December 2024 under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code, invoking charges, including criminal misappropriation and conspiracy.

The ACB filed a chargesheet in March 2026 in the Formula E race case against Rao and other accused.

Rao and others had recently appeared before the court as per its directives.

The probe pertains to alleged irregularities in payments of around Rs 55 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.

Rao denied the allegations, saying, "the decision to transfer funds to the race organisers was taken to promote Hyderabad’s image and there was no corruption involved."

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"The money sent by the government lies with the organisers, and there is no corruption in the matter," he had claimed.