Supreme Court orders probe by independent SIT on ‘Tirupati prasadam row’

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a fresh independent probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the allegations of use of adulterated ghee being used in laddus which is distributed as prasadam at Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, under the previous YSRCP government.

The Supreme Court ordered for an independent five-member SIT to be constituted of two officers of CBI, two officers of Andhra Pradesh police and one senior officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The CBI director will supervise SIT probe.

The apex court was hearing a batch of petitions seeking court-monitored investigation into the allegations of use of animal fat to make laddus served as prasadam at the Tirumala Tirupati temple. The Supreme Court stated that it doesn’t want this to turn into political drama. If there is an independent body, there will be confidence.

While appearing for one of the petitioners, senior advocate Kapil Sibal urged the apex court to form an independent SIT to probe the issue. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Centre suggested to the Supreme Court that if there is any element of truth in the allegation, it’s unacceptable. The Solicitor General told Supreme Court that letting the SIT be supervised by some senior central official would inspire confidence.

The Supreme Court on Monday questioned Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for making public allegations about the use of adulterated ghee for the preparation of laddus, which were served as prasadam at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan criticised the Chief Minister, saying there is no conclusive proof yet to substantiate that contaminated ghee was used in preparation of prasadam laddus. (ANI)