Tirupati laddu row: Supreme Court orders CBI-monitored SIT probe, says ‘won’t allow court to be used as political battleground’

The special team, which will be monitored by the Central Bureau of Investigation director, will comprise two officers each from the CBI and Andhra Pradesh police, and a senior officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), said.

This team will replace the one appointed by the state government. The bench said the order should not be construed as a reflection on the independence or fairness of the older SIT and that it was handing the probe to the new one “only to assuage the feelings of the crores of people having faith in the deity”.

The controversy began when the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led government in Andhra Pradesh raised doubts about the “purity” of the ingredients used in the laddu ‘prasadam’ at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu made public lab reports that alleged that the laddus, offered to the deity before being distributed among devotees, were contaminated with animal and vegetable fat.

Hearing petitions by Subramanian Swamy and others, the top court had on September 30 asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, to confirm whether the Andhra Pradesh government’s SIT should continue to probe the allegations or if the investigation should be transferred to an independent agency.

On Friday, Mehta told the bench: “If there is any element of truth in this allegation, it is unacceptable… The devotees are spread across the world. The Food Safety Act is also involved… I did not find anything against the members of the SIT. They are competent and qualified to do their job. Let them be supervised by some senior officer of the Central government police force who is senior to members of the SIT. So there will be an all-India perspective also and Food Safety Act also. That would I think inspire confidence and investigation can go on.”

The bench referred to a reported statement by CM Naidu that he had no problem with any probe that may be ordered by the SC. Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD), urged the court to not go by media reports.

Appearing for Andhra Pradesh, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi said the CM’s statement last month regarding adulterated ghee was on the basis of the lab report of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) which came in July.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for ex-TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy, said the report referred to vegetable fat and not animal fat.

He pressed for an independent investigation saying state SIT would not be able to discharge its work independently given the CM’s statements.

“It would be in the fitness of things if your Lordships have independent investigation. Had he not made the statement, it would have been another matter. It has an impact,” Sibal said.