A complaint has been filed against Congress leader Sam Pitroda, a close associate of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, concerning a ₹150 crore land scam in Bengaluru. BJP leader N R Ramesh accused Pitroda of involvement in illegal activities related to forest department land. The complaint also targets former Additional Chief Secretary Javed Akhtar and other forest officials. Allegations include fraud, corruption, and abuse of power, mainly regarding the unreturned 12.35 acres of reserved forest land leased to Pitroda’s organization, FRLHT. Ramesh claims Pitroda has profited significantly from the land since the lease expired in 2011.
Bengaluru:
A complaint has been filed against Congress leader Sam Pitroda, a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, concerning a Bengaluru land scam amounting to Rs 150 crore.
Senior BJP leader and activist N R Ramesh submitted the complaint on Monday, accompanied by relevant documents.
Mr. Ramesh claimed, “Sam Pitroda, closely associated with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, is involved in a massive illegal land scam that pertains to Karnataka’s Forest Department property worth over Rs 150 crore.”
The complaint also targets former Additional Chief Secretary of Karnataka’s Forest and Environment Department, Javed Akhtar (IAS Retd.), who is presently the Chairman of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), as well as Principal Chief Conservators of Forests R.K. Singh and Sanjay Mohan, and Deputy Conservators of Forests of Bengaluru Urban Division, N. Ravindra Kumar and S. S. Ravishankar.
The allegations consist of fraud, corruption, unlawful government land acquisition, and misuse of power.
The complaint mentions: “On October 23, 1991, Sam Pitroda established an organization named ‘Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions’ (FRLHT) with the Mumbai Registrar of Co-Operative Societies. Subsequently, in 2010, the registration of FRLHT was revoked at Sam Pitroda’s request.”
However, in 2008, another trust deed under the same name, ‘Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions’ (FRLHT), was registered at the Bangalore Sub-Registrar’s office in Byatarayanapura.
Mr. Ramesh alleged that in 1996, Sam Pitroda approached the Karnataka Forest Department to lease reserved forest land to FRLHT for “medicinal plant conservation and research.”
In response, the Karnataka Forest Department leased 5 hectares (12.35 acres) of reserved forest land in ‘B’ Block of Jarakabande Kavalu near Yelahanka, Bengaluru, to FRLHT, Mumbai for a duration of five years.
The Ministry of Forest, Ecology and Environment, Government of India, also approved this lease. Instead of reclaiming the land after the initial 5-year lease expired, the Karnataka Forest Department extended the lease for an additional 10 years in 2001, which concluded on December 2, 2011, as per the complaint.
“Since that time, the Forest Department has not renewed the lease. However, instead of reclaiming the 12.35-acre government land valued at over Rs 150 crore, the Karnataka Forest Department has taken no action for the past 14 years, allegedly due to bribery from Sam Pitroda,” Mr. Ramesh asserted.
High-ranking officials in the Karnataka Forest Department, influenced politically and financially by Sam Pitroda, failed to notify the central Ministry of Forest, Ecology and Environment that FRLHT’s lease expired on December 2, 2011, he charged.
According to Mr. Ramesh, Sam Pitroda’s FRLHT organization has continued to utilize the reserved forest land near Yelahanka, Bengaluru, for cultivating rare medicinal plants under the guise of research and conservation.
“Over the past 29 years, Sam Pitroda has allegedly profited immensely from the sale of medicinal plant products cultivated on this government land,” he stated.
Sam Pitroda, who hails from Odisha, previously served as an advisor to India’s telecom department under former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)