SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: The central government has reportedly granted sanction to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to prosecute IAS officer Arvind Kumar in connection with the Formula E case.
Telangana Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao had written to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in December last year seeking approval for the IAS officer’s prosecution.
The ACB had submitted its prosecution report to the Telangana government on September 9, naming Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao 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.
Accordingly, Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Verma had granted permission to the ACB to file a charge sheet against KTR in late November.
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 questioning Arvind Kumar’s authorisation for this transaction.
At that time, Kumar was serving as the Special Chief Secretary in the Municipal Administration Department, which was headed by KTR.
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.
SOURCE : SIASAT
