Sam Pitroda Declares He Has Never Accepted or Paid a Bribe

New Delhi, Feb 27 (NationPress) Congress leader Sam Pitroda announced on Wednesday that throughout his extensive career of 83 years, he has never engaged in the payment or acceptance of any bribe, neither in India nor abroad.

In a statement posted on the social media platform X, Pitroda remarked: "In response to recent media reports from India, both on television and in print, I feel compelled to declare the following: I do not possess any land, residences, or stocks in India. Furthermore, during my service with the Government of India -- whether under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the mid-1980s or with Dr. Manmohan Singh from 2004 to 2014 -- I have never received any salary."

He further stated: "Moreover, I want to emphasize, without any doubt, that I have never, throughout my life -- spanning 83 years -- paid or accepted any bribe, in India or elsewhere. This is the undeniable truth."

Previously, on Monday, a formal complaint was filed against Pitroda, a close ally of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, with the Karnataka Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bengaluru regarding a land scam estimated at Rs 150 crore.

The complaint was submitted by senior BJP leader and activist N.R. Ramesh along with supporting evidence.

Ramesh alleged, "Sam Pitroda, who maintains a close connection with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, is implicated in a significant illegal land scam related to property owned by Karnataka's Forest Department valued at over Rs 150 crore."

The allegations entail fraud, corruption, unlawful acquisition of government land, and abuse of authority.

The complaint details: "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, he cancelled the registration of FRLHT upon his 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, Pitroda sought a lease from the Karnataka Forest Department for reserved forest land for "medicinal plant conservation and research".

As a result of 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.

This lease was also sanctioned by the Ministry of Forest, Ecology and Environment, Government of India. After the initial five-year lease expired, the Karnataka Forest Department extended it for another 10 years in 2001, which ended on December 2, 2011, according to the complaint.

"Since then, the Forest Department has not renewed the lease. However, rather than reclaiming the 12.35-acre government land valued at over Rs 150 crore, the Karnataka Forest Department has allegedly taken no action for the past 14 years due to bribery allegations against Sam Pitroda," Ramesh claimed.

High-ranking officials within the Karnataka Forest Department, allegedly influenced politically and financially by Pitroda, have not notified the central Ministry of Forest, Ecology and Environment about the lease's expiration on December 2, 2011, he charged.

Sam Pitroda's FRLHT organization has continued to utilize the reserved forest land near Yelahanka, Bengaluru, for the cultivation of rare medicinal plants under the guise of research and conservation, Ramesh claimed.

"Over the past 29 years, Sam Pitroda is said to have earned crores of rupees annually from the sales of medicinal plant products cultivated on this government land," he noted.

Originally from Odisha, Sam Pitroda served as an advisor to India's Telecom department under former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.