Bengaluru- A case has been filed against Congress leader and close associate of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, along with others, before the Land Grabbing Prohibition Special Court in Bengaluru. The complaint was lodged on Monday by Ramesh NR, former leader of the ruling party in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and President of the Anti-Corruption Forum.
The petition, filed under Section 4(2) of the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act 2011, accuses Pitroda and his associates of illegally occupying 12.35 acres of reserved forest land in Jarakabande Kaval near Yelahanka. According to the complaint, Pitroda’s organisation, FRLHT, had initially leased the land from the Karnataka Forest Department in 1996, with renewals granted until 2011. However, despite the lease expiring over 14 years ago, they allegedly continued possession of the land, valued at over ₹150 crore (government rate) and ₹300 crore (market value).
Ramesh NR further alleged that Pitroda’s organisation has been illegally generating ₹5-6 crore annually by selling rare medicinal plants grown on the land. Additionally, an unauthorized Ayurvedic hospital, I-AIM (Institute of Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine), is allegedly operating on the property through Pitroda’s associate and FRLHT founding member, Darshan Shankar.
Prior to this case, complaints regarding the alleged scam had been filed with the Karnataka Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on February 24. The fresh complaint also names former Additional Chief Secretary of Karnataka’s Forest and Environment Department, Javed Akhtar (IAS Retd.), and senior forest officials, accusing them of collusion in the alleged land grab.
Sam Pitroda, originally from Odisha, had served as an advisor to India’s Telecom Department under former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. The case now awaits further legal proceedings in the special court.
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