Government readies to slap charges on Arvind Kumar

Hyderabad : Is the Congress government preparing ground to slap charges against former special chief secretary (MA&UD) Arvind Kumar and former minister K T Rama Rao in the alleged embezzlement of Rs 55-crore Formula E company deal? Sources indicate that the government was moving in the direction of framing charges and then proceed to recover the money from them.

The allegation is that as special chief secretary Arvind Kumar had drawn the money from the state exchequer without the consent of state Cabinet and also the Finance wing to give to the Formula E company.

After receiving a reply from Arvind Kumar to the notices served on him by the government, the authorities were now seeking legal opinion from the experts as well as the state Advocate General to move further to take action against the officials and others responsible.

The senior IAS official reportedly explained in the reply to the notices that he had released the amount of Rs 55 crore to the Formula E company on the oral instructions over phone from then Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao.

The government took serious note of this reply and has decided to take action accordingly.

Officials said that the agreement does not have a legal validity and hence the government has the right to demand the then officials and the responsible minister in the government to refund the money paid to the Formula E company.

The government is also trying to see if there were any precedents where money was recovered from the officials or ministers for entering into agreements without the approval of the Cabinet. “Release of money to the agency without financial concurrence would attract criminal offence,” officials said. It may be recalled that Arvind Kumar has been transferred to the Revenue and Disaster Management department after the Congress came to power in the state.