However, a final official decision on the ACB request is yet to be taken, according to BRS sources. However, a final official decision on the ACB request is yet to be taken, according to BRS sources.
Hyderabad:BRS working president and former minister K.T. Rama Rao may not hand over his mobile phone or laptop to the Anti-Corruption Bureau which asked for the devices in relation to the investigation into the conduct of Formula E car race in Hyderabad.
According to an analysis of the situation by a BRS legal team, there was no requirement for Rama Rao to submit the devices as, according to previous rulings by the High Court and the Supreme Court, the ACB has no authority to demand personal mobile phones in the absence of any court order related to official government transactions.
However, a final official decision on the ACB request is yet to be taken, according to BRS sources.
Meanwhile, Rama Rao on Tuesday said he would serve a legal notice to TPCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud “for levelling baseless allegations and false claims” in the phone-tapping case. Rama Rao demanded an immediate and unconditional apology from the Congress leader for “false phone tapping allegations made by the PCC president.”
With respect to the Formula E race case, the initial legal opinion with respect to ACB seeking Rama Rao’s phone was that the inquiry pertained to a sporting event organised under the decision of the state government. “Once the government approved the event, its execution was entirely carried out by the official machinery. Rama Rao’s role was limited to policy decision-making and he did not hold any personal involvement beyond that,” party sources said.
“Every financial transaction was officially routed through the banking system, and hence, the ACB has no right to seek Rama Rao’s personal information when he was serving as a minister,” is the legal opinion arrived at on this matter, the party sources added.
