A case has been filed against the Congress leader, a close associate of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, Sam Pitroda and others before the Land Grabbing Prohibition Special Court in Bengaluru on Monday in Bengaluru.
Ramesh NR, former leader of the ruling party, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and President of Anti-Corruption Forum has filed a complaint before the court.
The petition is filed under Section 4 (2) of the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act 2011.
In his petition, Mr Ramesh alleged: "Satyanarayana Gangaram Pitroda, also known as Sam Pitroda, a close associate of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and the former president of the overseas unit of the Indian National Congress (I), registered an organisation named FRLHT in Mumbai in 1996. In the same year, they leased 5 hectares (12.35 acres) of reserved forest land from the Karnataka Forest Department in Jarakabande Kaval near Yelahanka, Bengaluru, for five years. This lease was renewed in 2001 for an additional ten years."
Since 2011, the lease for this 12.35-acre reserved forest land has not been extended for FRLHT. Despite this, for the past 14 and a half years, they have allegedly ignored legal regulations, retaining possession of this valuable government property, which has a government valuation exceeding Rs 150 crore and a market value over Rs 300 crore, Mr Ramesh alleged.
They are purportedly earning an illegal income of Rs 5 to Rs 6 crore annually by selling rare medicinal plants cultivated on this land and their products, he said.
Through their close associate and founding member of FRLHT, Darshan Shankar, they have reportedly constructed a large unauthorised building on this reserved forest land and are operating an Ayurvedic hospital named I-AIM (Institute of Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine) illegally, he alleged.
On February 24, complaints with supporting documents were filed with the Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate regarding this matter, he stated.
"Today, comprehensive criminal cases, including charges of government land grabbing, have been filed in the special court Land Grabbing Prohibition Special Court against Sam Pitroda and Darshan Shankar, who, with the alleged assistance of four senior officials from the Karnataka Forest Department, are involved in this massive government land grabbing scam," Mr Ramesh stated.
Earlier, a complaint was lodged against Congress leader Sam Pitroda, with the Karnataka Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bengaluru a land scam of Rs 150 crore.
Mr 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 is 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 RK Singh and Sanjay Mohan, and Deputy Conservators of Forests of Bengaluru Urban Division, N Ravindra Kumar and SS Ravishankar.
The allegations include fraud, corruption, illegal government land acquisition, and abuse of power.
Sam Pitroda, originally from Odisha, 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.)
