Supreme Court To Hear Petitions Seeking Probe Into Row Over Tirupati Laddoos

After roiling the political arena for over a week, the row over animal fat allegedly being used to make the famed Tirupati laddoos will now be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday.

The petitions have been filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) chairman YV Subba Reddy, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from the YSR Congress Party. The party has been the focal point of attacks since Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu claimed last week that animal fat was used to make the sought-after laddoos given as 'prasad' by the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati under the previous YSR Congress government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Both Mr Swamy and YV Subba Reddy have requested a court-monitored probe into the allegations. 

In his Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed earlier this week, the BJP leader requested the Supreme Court to direct the Andhra Pradesh government to file a detailed report on the ghee used for making the laddus and also sought a detailed forensic report. The state government had cited a report by a laboratory in Gujarat to claim that the ghee used in the laddoos contained traces of beef tallow, fish oil, and lard (pig fat). 

"There ought to have been checks and balances internally to supervise and verify and check the quality or the lack of it, of the suppliers supplying various ingredients to the temple which go into the making of the prasad," the petition said. 

YV Subba Reddy also filed a PIL seeking an independent special investigation team (SIT) monitored by a retired Supreme Court judge to probe Mr Naidu's allegations. Mr Reddy, who has been at the forefront of his party's defence against the Andhra Pradesh chief minister's claims, has repeatedly said that no adulterated ghee was used in the making of the laddoos.

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