Tirumala Tirupati Laddu Controversy: The Supreme Court has ordered to constitute an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the allegations regarding use of adulterated ghee in preparing Prasadam laddus at Tirumala Tirupati Temple. The independent SIT will include two CBI officers, two Andhra Pradesh police officers, and a senior officer of the of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The probe will be supervised by the CBI director.
Hearing various petitions in the case today, the Top Court said it has not observed anything on the merits of the allegations and counter-allegations in the matter, and the decision of the Court should not be used as a political battleground. It clarified that it is passing the order to assuage the feelings of the crores of devotees of the Tirumala temple deity.
The Court was hearing various petitions filed by senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, Rajya Sabha MP and former Chairman, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, YV Subba Reddy, and historian Vikram Sampath, along with spiritual discourse speaker Dushyanth Sridhar.
Earlier, during the previous hearing on Monday, the top court questioned Chandrababu Naidu over going public with allegations of adulterated ghee being used to prepare the prasadam laddus without conclusive proof.
On the 18th of last month, Mr. Naidu alleged that during the tenure of the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government, animal fat was used in the preparation of Tirupati laddus, sparking a major political controversy.
