Seventythree-year-old S Sampath Kumar has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since 1943 and a practicing civil lawyer for the last 48 years.

Last year Kumar was asked by the RSS to take on the case of Ramar Pillai -- who had created a sensation in the country by announcing he had found a formula for making herbal fuel which would be cheap and environment friendly. Pillai was first hailed as a hero, then a fraud when the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested him for adulterating petroleum products and passing them as herbal fuel.

It was then that the RSS entered the scene. Pillai approached the organisation for help and Kumar -- one of its senior-most members -- was given the task of finding out the truth. After verifying the authenticity of the fuel, the RSS is now trying not only to defend Pillai, but plans to apply for a patent for the fuel.

In an interview to Shobha Warrier, the experienced advocate says he decided to take up the case as a 'challenge.'

How did the RSS get involved in Ramar Pillai's fuel case? Has it got anything to do with Sarsanghchalak K S Sudarshan's call for swadeshi in Agra?

The RSS's involvement in Ramar Pillai's fuel has nothing to do with Sudarshanji's call. All these days Ramar Pillai was used and misused by several people. It was only now that he understood that all those who were trying to help him were actually after his formula. So, finally when he was arrested by the CBI, there was nobody to help him. Even before that, somebody had told him that the only organisation that would and could help him was the RSS.

Did he approach you then?

No, he approached some pracharaks. They immediately contacted me and requested me to visit his factory. I decided to go.

But reports about the fuel were not satisfactory…

I normally read the papers but I give some discount to certain things. So, I was not worried about what others had to say about him. I went there with an open mind. It was a small factory in Pallavaram and he demonstrated how the fuel was made. After watching him perform the 'miracle' -- yes I call it a miracle -- I was convinced.

This incident happened just before the CBI arrested him. When I got the information that he was arrested, I went there to help him as all the others had abandoned him. I went through the chargesheet and all the other documents including the report from the IIT.

In the CBI report also, it was mentioned that there was benzene, toluene, kerosene, camphor, etc in the fuel. That was all that was written in the chargesheet. So, I moved the high court. I told the court, let the CBI mix kerosene and camphor and produce the fuel. Anyway, he was released on bail.

The prosecution is going to be under IPC 420. As a lawyer, I feel that I will be able to defend him successfully.

You said you were convinced that what Ramar Pillai had extracted from herbs was fuel. But you are only an advocate, not a scientist.

You are right. I do not also consider myself as a person who can certify the authenticity of the product. That is the reason why I requested two professors of chemistry, Professor H V Jambekar and Professor S G Jyotishi to do a thorough study. If they had given the opinion that the fuel was useless, I would have dropped the case altogether.

They tested the fuel scientifically and informed me that the fuel would be very useful. They tested it on a Bajaj scooter and a Hero Honda motorbike and found that it had lower carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions than petrol. It also gave more mileage. These scientists gave a certificate specifying all this, and only after that, I took up the case.

What baffles many is the fact that the professors of IIT, Madras, were not convinced at all and they even labeled Pillai a fraud?

Yes, I also asked him (Pillai) the same question. I asked him why could he not convince the scientists from IIT? He said they approached the whole thing with a negative frame of mind.

They wanted to prove him wrong. They didn't want to take him seriously as he was an illiterate. The professors said there was kerosene and camphor in the fuel. The explanation given by Pillai was that he used kerosene and camphor to camouflage the real fuel.

Why does he have to do so? He was there to prove the effectiveness of the fuel. Didn't you ask him that?

I did ask him. He said he was afraid of the scientists questioning him! That was his answer to my question. I am itching for an opportunity to question the scientists and the CBI in court.

Now, you can take it from me, 70 per cent of the fuel is herbal and 30 per cent from the catalyst. No petroleum products are there in the fuel, I assure you.

If the fuel is purely herbal, why did the scientists call him a fraud? Why did the CBI arrest him?

I am unable to answer the question now. I will answer you after I question them when they come to the witness box. I will pray to the magistrate for an open trial so that everybody can watch the proceedings. I want the media to also attend the trial.

If his fuel is authentic, it can be beneficial for society. Still, he is being persecuted. Why?

I am really surprised. You can say the RSS took up the case because we felt it would benefit the nation. Those who are maligning him are not concerned about the society at all. Tell me who thinks about the society at large? Do you see positive news in the newspapers? You get to see only negative and sensational news. You people gave such a lot of importance to the CBI raid and the arrest of Ramar Pillai.

But the newspapers also gave him a lot of publicity when he first came up with herbal fuel. The CBI after arresting him said what he was selling as fuel was nothing but petrol.

How could he sell petrol at a lower price? I talked to the autorickshaw drivers who were using Ramar's fuel and all of them told me that they were very, very satisfied with the product. They also told me: 'Sir, please see to it that he comes out free soon.' They also wanted an outlet in the city. One of the retailers told me that he did not want his deposit back. What he wanted was distributorship! What does it show? Their confidence in the fuel.

Till recently Ramar Pillai was refusing to divulge the formula to anyone. Why did he give it to the RSS then?

I did not ask him to hand over the formula to the RSS. When he was threatened by many people, he thought it was better to give the formula to the RSS so that it would remain in safe custody. It also shows his confidence in the RSS.

It was reported you were trying to obtain a patent for the herbal fuel.

Yes. Now that the professors of chemistry have given a clean chit to the herbal fuel, we have decided to apply for a patent in the names of Ramar Pillai, his friend Venudevi and the two chemistry professors. We will definitely see to it that he receives a patent soon.

We also will see that Ramar Pillai's fuel is commercially exploited so that it can be an industrial product. That is our aim now. We are told by the scientists it is possible to produce the fuel on a large scale. We will do just that so that our dependence on petroleum producing countries will come down!

Photographs: Sreeram Selvaraj. Design: Dominic Xavier.

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