Tirupati laddu row: Supreme Court forms special team, CBI to monitor probe

Tirupati laddu row: The new probe team will consist of members of the CBI, state police, and FSSAI. The Supreme Court said the allegations had the potential of hurting sentiments of people worldwide.

In Short

• Apart from CBI, special team to comprise of police, food safety body
• Supreme Court says its order is to assuage feelings of crores of devotees
• Row over animal fat allegedly found in laddus during YSRCP regime

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a probe by a special investigation team (SIT), under the supervision of the CBI, into allegations that the previous Andhra Pradesh government had used substandard ghee containing animal fat to prepare Tirupati laddus. The SIT will also consist of two state police officers and one member of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Saying that the allegations had the potential of hurting sentiments of people worldwide, the Supreme Court said the SIT investigation would be monitored by the CBI director. "In order to assuage the feelings of crores of people, we find that an investigation by an independent SIT consisting of representatives of state police, CBI and FSSAI, shall be done," a bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said.

The top court, however, clarified that it was passing the order to assuage the feelings of the crores of devotees of the famed Sri Venkateswara Temple.

"We clarify that our order should not be construed as a reflection on the independence and fairness of the members of the state SIT. We have constituted the committee only to assuage the feelings of crores of people having faith in the deity," the Supreme Court said.

The Supreme Court, however, refrained from making any comment on the merits of the allegations and counter-allegations in the matter, saying it would not permit the court to be used as a "political battleground".

HEARING SEES HEATED ARGUMENT

The controversy erupted last month after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, citing a lab report, claimed animal fat and fish oil were found in the ghee used to make the laddus during the previous YSRCP regime.

The hearing saw a heated argument between senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the Andhra Pradesh government, and Kapil Sibal, who represented one of the petitioners.

Rohatgi said the state government-constituted SIT should be allowed to proceed with the probe. "Any officer of the court's choice can be added. There can be no allegation against the SIT. We cannot go by some newspaper report," he said.

However, Kapil Sibal said Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's statements had compromised the partiality and an independent body should investigate the matter.

The Supreme Court said the allegations were very serious and ordered the probe under CBI supervision.

TIRUPATI LADDU ROW: WHAT HAPPENED IN PREVIOUS HEARING?

In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Chief Minister for going public with the claim without conclusive proof.

The top court said there was no conclusive proof that animal fat was used to make the laddus, as the lab report prima facie indicated that the impurities were detected in the ghee samples that were rejected.

Following the Supreme Court's remarks, the SIT constituted by the state government halted its probe earlier this week.