Tirupati Temple Laddoo Row: SC Lambasts Naidu over going to Public without Waiting for SIT Report

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Sept 30: Stung by the strong criticism from the Supreme Court for going public on the alleged adulterated “prasadam” at the famed Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh without waiting for the investigation report, the ruling Telegu Desam Party said it stood by all the charges it levelled against its predecessor YSR Congress Party and maintained that adulterated ghee was actually used in “laddoos” in Tirupati during the tenure of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as the chief minister.

“We are ready to prove before the SC whatever charges the chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu made against the previous government about the use of adulterated ghee in preparing laddoos in Tirupati temple was correct,” the TDP national spokesman K Pattabhi Ram said.

His statement came after the Supreme Court on Monday strongly criticised the AP chief minister for rushing to press with the charges against Jagan Mohan Reddy government without waiting for the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the state government to probe into the charges of use of adulterated ghee.

“We expect a person holding a constitutional post to keep Gods away from politics,” a bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan commented taking a dim view of Mr Naidu making public the allegation of use of adulterated ghee in preparing “prasadam” at the Tirupati temple.

Hearing three petitions over allegations that animal fat was found in the ghee used to make the laddoos for devotional offerings and distributed among devotees as “prasadam,” the bench said religion and politics could not be allowed to mix.

The bench was distinctly unhappy with the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s September 20 comments, in which he hit out at his rival and predecessor, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, over the alleged presence of animal fats in Tirupati laddoo ghee. “You get the report in July. September 18, you go public. You say you ordered an investigation. It is very clear from the report that this is not the ghee which had been used. Unless you are sure, how did you go to the public with that?” asked Justice K V Viswanathan.

In a series of pointed questions and sharp observations, the top court underlined the lack of definitive proof of contamination of ghee or, if it was indeed contaminated, that the affected ghee was used to make the laddoos. The court also pointed to an ongoing inquiry and a “false positive” testing caveat.

The court took a dim view of Mr Naidu’s public statements on this contentious issue, particularly as his administration had already ordered an inquiry into the findings of a Gujarat lab July’s report claiming fish oil, beef tallow, and lard (pig fat) were found in the ghee.

“When you (the Chief Minister) hold a Constitutional post… we expect Gods to be kept away from politics. If you had already ordered (an) investigation, what was the need to go to the press? The lab report came in July… your statement came in September. (And) the report is not at all clear…”

The matter was then directed for Thursday afternoon, with the court warning the Chief Minister against a ‘hat-trick’ of unnecessary comments. “There should be restraint…” he was told.

Mr Naidu’s criticism of the Reddy government was soon echoed by members of his Telugu Desam Party and its NDA allies Jana Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party, triggering a massive political row in the southern state. The Chief Minister also proclaimed, and carried out, a ‘purification’ ceremony for the famous temple.

Responding to the allegations and attacks, Mr Reddy and his YSR Congress Party have slammed the “malicious” claims and accused the TDP of lying for political gain. The party also said it was Mr Naidu, in fact, who had damaged the temple’s sanctity by making outrageous comments. Mr Reddy later even wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused Mr Naidu of being a “pathological liar.”

The row was dragged to the Supreme Court after petitions were filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP YV Subba Reddy as well as historian Dr Vikram Sampath and spiritual discourser Dushyanth Sridhar. Mr Reddy also served as Chair of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, which is the state-run trust that manages the Tirupati temple. Mr Swamy’s petition requests the court to direct the Andhra government to file a detailed forensic report, while Mr Reddy’s asks for an independent special investigation team to probe the charges.

In response to the the apex court’s criticism, the TDP spokesperson said, “We stand by everything we have said before. Adulterated ghee was used to prepare Tirupati laddoos. We welcome the Supreme Court’s ruling today asking the Centre if a central investigation is required. A R Dairy Food Private Limited supplied eight tankers of ghee to TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams).

“When there were complaints from pilgrims regarding the smell and quality of laddoos, samples from the remaining four tankers were sent for testing and the reports are there for everyone to see. At Rs 319 per kg, it cannot be that the quality of ghee in the first four tankers was pure and the remaining four tankers were adulterated. NDDB has stood by its report on the ghee samples we have sent. The Andhra Pradesh government will furnish all the reports to the SC.”

The YSRCP also welcomed the Supreme Court’s stand on the issue. Member of the AP Legislative Council Botsa Satyanarayana, who was a minister in the YSRCP government, said the SC’s question on whether adulterated ghee was used or not was crucial. “We have been asking the same thing ever since the TDP government made these baseless allegations. Where and when was adulterated ghee used? We will have to wait for the full ruling of the SC before we can say anything further.” Botsa had on Saturday dared Chief Minister Naidu to order a probe by a Supreme Court – monitored third party to prove his allegations.

The irked top court also pointed out it has not yet been established if the ghee – about which complaints over quality had been received – was, in fact, used to make the laddoos.

Told the investigation into the quality of the ghee was ongoing, Justice Gavai shot back again, “(Then) what was the need to go to the press immediately? You need to respect religious sentiments.” “Where is proof this was the ghee used to prepare the laddoos?” the court asked, pointing out that tankers delivered on July 6 and 12 were tested and, according to the temple management, never used.

The lab referred to samples from these tankers and not deliveries in June which were used till July 4. The court also made public a disclaimer in the report prepared by the Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food lab at the National Dairy Development Board in Gujarat.

Urging senior advocate Siddhartha Luthra, appearing for the TDP, to read it aloud, the court said, “Public (may) not be aware of this… you (the Chief Minister) only gave a statement…” Mr Luthra then read out, “A false positive can be obtained…method is not applicable to…” and Justice Viswanathan then said, “Does not prudence dictate you take a second opinion (before going public)? Normally we take a second opinion… no proof that said ghee was used.”

The kitchen at Tirupati makes around three lakh laddoos daily, with around 1,500 kg of ghee and vast amounts of cashew nuts, raisins, cardamoms, gram flour, and sugar used. Reports indicate the ghee was bought from a supplier in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul.

Later, after hearing the submissions, the SC in its order stated: “We are prima facie of the view that when investigation was under process, it was not appropriate on part of high constitutional functionary to make statement which can affect public sentiment.”

Setting the next date for the hearing on October 3, it said it will be appropriate for the solicitor general to assist the bench in deciding if the special investigation team (SIT) should continue or if the matter should be probed by an independent agency.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that this was a matter of faith and, if contaminated ghee was used in preparation of the laddoos, it was unacceptable. “Someone will have to go into the question as to whether it (adulterated ghee) was used, if yes, who did it. This affects the sentiments of crores of people… in the beginning you should not have gone to the press,” the bench told the Andhra Pradesh government.

It also sought to know what was the proof that contaminated ghee was used in making the laddoos and asked the state government why it went to the press with the lab reports if it had already ordered a probe in the matter.

“[Report] is not at all clear. If you had already ordered investigation, what was the need to go to the press? Report came in July, statement came in September. This report prima facie indicates that this is not the material used in the preparation. Unless you were sure, how did you go to the public with that? What was the purpose of investigation?” Justice Viswanathan asked.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state government, said the petitions before the SC are “not bonafide” and an attempt to attack the current regime by the previous government.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra said the ghee was procured from private vendors in the last few years. He argued that there were complaints about its quality and a show-cause notice was also issued to the contractor.

“Was the ghee not found in conformity, was it used for prasadam?” asked Justice Gavai, to which Luthra said: “We are investigating.” “Then what was the need to go to the press immediately? You need to respect religious sentiments,” Justice Gavai said, while Justice Viswanathan asked: “Where is the proof that this was the ghee used in preparation of laddoos?”

Luthra took the court through all the important dates in the controversy. “How many contractors were supplying the material? Are the approved ghees mixed? Nowhere is it clear that it is used. It is tested, and report put in public domain, pending investigation,” Justice Viswanathan said.

To this, Luthra said once the product is found to not be appropriate, a second test is conducted. “July 6, fresh supply comes in and is sent to the lab. We get lab reports. These were not used,” he said.

“Did the lab take samples of the June 12 tanker? And the June 20 tanker?” asked Justice Gavai, seeking details on the timeline of the formation of the SIT and Naidu’s statement.

The TTD is the official custodian of the Tirupati temple. On September 22, Naidu announced at his Undavalli residence that an SIT will probe the alleged sacrilege of adulterating the laddoos and the nine-member SIT was actually constituted on September 27 headed by Guntur range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sarvashresth Tripathi and other police officials.

“The government of Andhra Pradesh, in accordance with its commitment to protecting the sanctity of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), have (has) considered it necessary to constitute a SIT for detailed and comprehensive investigation of the entire issue,” said chief secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad. However, the YSRCP leaders said probing the allegations by an agency reporting to the CM was insufficient and called for a supreme court-monitored probe.