‘Never paid or accepted bribe in whole life’: Congress leader Sam Pitroda

New Delhi: Congress leader Sam Pitroda on Wednesday released a statement and said that he has never paid or accepted any bribe in India or in any other country in his whole life and career spanning 83 years.

Taking to social media platform X, Pitroda said: “In light of recent reports in the Indian media, both on television and in print, I wish to categorically state the following: I do not own any land, home, or stocks in India. Additionally, during my tenure working with the Government of India — whether with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the mid-1980s or with Dr. Manmohan Singh from 2004 to 2014 — I have never taken/received any salary.”

He also wrote: “Furthermore, I want to put on record, unequivocally, that I have never in my entire life — spanning 83 years — paid or accepted any bribe, in India or in any other country. This is the absolute and irrefutable truth.”

Earlier on Monday, a complaint had been lodged against Pitroda, a close associate of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, with the Karnataka Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bengaluru in connection with a land scam worth 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 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, 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 five-year lease expired, the Karnataka Forest Department extended the lease for another 10 years in 2001, which expired on December 2, 2011, the complaint said.

“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. (IANS)

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