Bengaluru, Feb 24: A complaint has been lodged against Congress leader Sam Pitroda, known as a close associate of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, with the Karnataka Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bengaluru a land scam of Rs 150 crore.

The complaint was lodged by senior BJP leader and activist N.R. Ramesh on Monday along with supporting documents. Ramesh alleged, “Sam Pitroda, who shares a close association with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, is implicated in a massive illegal land scam involving Karnataka’s Forest Department property worth over Rs 150 crore.”

The Complaint has also been filed against former Additional Chief Secretary of Karnataka’s Forest and Environment Department, Javed Akhtar (IAS Retd.), who is currently 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 include fraud, corruption, illegal government land acquisition, and abuse of power.

The complaint states: “On October 23, 1991, Sam Pitroda registered an organisation called ‘Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions’ (FRLHT) with the Mumbai Registrar of Co-Operative Societies. Later, in 2010, the registration of FRLHT was cancelled upon Sam Pitroda’s written 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.”

Ramesh alleged that in 1996, Sam Pitroda requested the Karnataka Forest Department to lease reserved forest land to FRLHT for "medicinal plant conservation and research."

Based on this request, 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 five years.

The lease was also approved by the Ministry of Forest, Ecology and Environment, Government of India. After the initial 5-year lease expired, the Karnataka Forest Department extended the lease for another 10 years in 2001, which expired on December 2, 2011, the complaint stated.

“Since then, the Forest Department has not renewed the lease. However, instead of reclaiming the 12.35-acre government land worth over Rs 150 crore, the Karnataka Forest Department has failed to take any action for the past 14 years due to alleged bribery from Sam Pitroda,” Ramesh alleged.

High-ranking officials in the Karnataka Forest Department, under Sam Pitroda’s political and financial influence, have not informed the central Ministry of Forest, Ecology and Environment that FRLHT’s lease expired on December 2, 2011, he charged.

Sam Pitroda’s FRLHT organisation has continued to use the reserved forest land near Yelahanka, Bengaluru, for cultivating rare medicinal plants under the pretext of research and conservation, Ramesh alleged.

“Over the past 29 years, Sam Pitroda has reportedly earned crores of rupees annually from the sale of medicinal plant products grown on this government land,” he said.

Sam Pitroda, originally from Odisha, served as an advisor to India’s telecom department under former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.

--IANS

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