SC forms special team to probe Tirupati laddu row, CBI to monitor it
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered probe into the allegations of substandard ghee containing animal fat having used to make Tirupati laddus at Sri Venkateswara Temple under the watch of the previous Andhra Pradesh government.
The court ordered investigation by a special investigation team (SIT), consisting of two state police officers and one member of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), working under the supervision of the CBI.
The court directed the CBI director to monitor the SIT probe saying that allegations could be hurting sentiments of people worldwide.
A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan ordered a probe by SIT consisting of representatives of state police, CBI and FSSAIn to ‘to assuage the feelings of crores of people’.
Refusing to permit itself to be a ‘political battleground’, the court did not make any comments on the allegations and counter-allegations.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu controversially said last month that animal fat was found in the ghee used to make the laddus during the previous YSRCP regime.
The court earlier came down on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s statements that led to the controversy.
The court said that Naidu should have ‘kept the gods away from politics’ before making public statements impacting the religious sentiments of crores of people across the world.