The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a probe by an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the allegations of using animal fat in laddus served as ‘prasadam’ at the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh.
The top court formed the SIT, consisting of two members of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), two members of the Andhra Pradesh police and one FSSAI member. The probe will be monitored by the CBI director, Live Law reported.
While ordering the formation of an independent SIT, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said it does not want a political drama over this matter since it is a matter of faith for millions of devotees across the world.
“We clarify that we have not gone into allegations and counter allegations in either plea. We will not permit the court to be used as a political battleground. To assuage 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. We also direct that investigation is under the director of CBI,” said Justice Gavai.
“FSSAI is the most expert apex body in matters of testing food. We don’t want this to turn into political drama. If there is an independent body, there will be confidence,” Justice Gavai added.
The case stems from an allegation by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu that animal fat was used in the making of the laddoos at the temple during the previous regime led by Jagan Mohan Reddy.
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Jagan Reddy had denied the report as “false” and accused Naidu of “using faith for politics”.
Naidu’s charges sparked a massive political controversy with Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan repeatedly calling for a pan-India committee to protect ‘sanatan dharma’ and even undergoing an 11-day penance.