Sam Pitroda accused of illegal occupation of government land worth ₹150 crore, BJP leader files complaint with ED

Sam Pitroda Bengaluru Land Scam Case: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has alleged that controversial Congress leader Sam Pitroda, considered close to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, illegally acquired 12.35 acres of government land worth Rs 150 crore in Yelahanka, Bengaluru with the help of five senior government officials, including Karnataka Forest Department officials. Former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) councillor N R Ramesh has filed a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Karnataka Lokayukta.

In his complaint to the ED, BJP leader Ramesh said that Sam Pitroda alias Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda had registered an organisation named 'Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Tradition (FRLHT)' in the office of Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Mumbai on October 23, 1993. Ramesh says that the registration was cancelled in Mumbai in 2010 on Pitroda's request.

"Later, in 2008, he (Pitroda) again registered a trust deed in the name of 'Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Tradition' at the Byatarayanapura sub-registrar office in Bengaluru," the BJP leader told PTI.

Ramesh alleged that meanwhile, Pitroda requested the Karnataka State Forest Department to allot a reserved forest area on lease for conservation and research of medicinal plants. He claimed that on Pitroda's request, the Karnataka State Forest Department allotted five hectares (12.35 acres) of reserved forest land in B Block of Jarakabande Kaval near Yelahanka in Bengaluru on a five-year lease in 1996.

Ramesh said that since the initial five-year lease given to FRLHT expired in 2001, the Karnataka State Forest Department extended it for another 10 years. The BJP leader said that the lease period of Sam Pitroda's Mumbai-based FRLHT expired on December 2, 2011. It was not extended further.

Ramesh said the state forest department had to reclaim 12.35 acres of government land after the lease period expired. It is now worth over Rs 150 crore. He alleged that forest department officials have not made any effort to reclaim the land for the past 14 years.

Sam Pitroda has not yet responded to these allegations. Janata Dal Secular leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy raised the issue on social media platform X and asked whether Karnataka Forest Minister Ishwar Khandre would take action against Pitroda.

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The complaint has also been filed against Javed Akhtar (retired IAS), former Additional Chief Secretary of Karnataka's Forest and Environment Department. He is currently the Chairman of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC). The complaint has also been filed against Principal Chief Conservators of Forests R.K. Singh and Sanjay Mohan and Deputy Conservators of Forests N. Ravindra Kumar and S.S. Ravishankar of Bengaluru Urban Division.