Tirupati Laddus Controversy: Understanding Supreme Court's Observations On Ghee Adulteration Claims In Four Points

The Supreme Court on Monday (30 September) heard a bunch of petitions seeking an independent or court-monitored investigation into allegations of adulteration of Tirupati laddus and sought Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta's advice.

1. Probe: The two-judge bench, consisting of Justices K V Viswanathan and B R Gavai, stated that it would be appropriate for the SG to assist in determining whether the already-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) should continue its work or if the investigation should be conducted by an independent agency.

The SIT was formed by the Andhra Pradesh government after Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that 'beef tallow, fish oil and lard (pig fat) was found in ghee used to make Tirupati laddus when Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was the CM.

2. Naidu: However, the court noted, "We are prima facie of the view that when the investigation was under process, it was not appropriate on the part of high constitutional functionary to make a statement which can affect public sentiments."

3. TTD: The Supreme Court noted the statement of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board that such adulterated ghee was never used to make prasadam for the temple.

4. Ghee: Regarding the adulteration of ghee, the court noted that the ghee supplied in tankers in June till 4 July, supplied by the same supplier, was not sent to analysis but only those received on 6 July were sent to NDDB for testing.

"It's submitted that in all four samples, ghee was found to be adulterated. Further, a statement made by the CEO is only for the tankers supplied on 6 July and 12 July. It's submitted that ghee in tankers supplied in June till 4 July was used in making of laddus," the court said.

The matter will be next heard on 3 October. The petitions have been filed by senior BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy, Rajya Sabha MP and former TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy and historian Dr Vikram Sampath and spiritual discourser Dushyanth Sridhar.