Supreme Court Orders Independent Probe into Tirumala Temple Prasadam Allegations

The Supreme Court has mandated the formation of an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate allegations of adulterated ghee in prasadam at Tirumala Temple, Andhra Pradesh. The SIT will consist of CBI and Andhra Pradesh police officers, supervised by the CBI director, and aims to keep the inquiry apolitical.

The Supreme Court has directed the creation of an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations that adulterated ghee was used in the laddus distributed as prasadam at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh. The SIT will comprise two officers from the CBI, two from the Andhra Pradesh police, and a senior official from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The CBI director will oversee the investigation.

During the hearing, a batch of petitions had called for a court-monitored inquiry into claims of contamination with animal fat in the temple prasadam. The Supreme Court emphasized its desire to prevent the issue from escalating into a political controversy and underlined the importance of an independent investigation for maintaining public confidence.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing one of the petitioners, urged for an independent SIT, while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta suggested the involvement of a senior central official for oversight. Meanwhile, the court questioned Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over public comments made without conclusive evidence of adulteration, after Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan criticized the premature allegations.

(With inputs from agencies.)