New Delhi:

Religion and politics cannot be allowed to mix, the Supreme Court said Monday while hearing three petitions over allegations that animal fat was found in the ghee used to make the laddoos, or devotional offerings, ‘fed’ to the deity and given to devotees at Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati temple.

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 Chief Minister Chandrababu 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…”

A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan 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.

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.

READ | Andhra Government Cites Lab Report In Row Over Animal Fat

Mr Naidu’s comments were soon echoed by members of his Telugu Desam Party and 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.

READ | Tirupati Temple ‘Purified’ Amid Row Over Animal Fat In Ghee

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. Mr Reddy also served as Chair of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, which is the state-run trust that manages the Tirupati temple.

READ | Health Ministry Wants Report As Tirupati Laddoo Row Escalates

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 this, the first day of hearing these petitions, the court came down sharply on the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, noting “You ordered a special investigation. Till the outcome… what was the need to go to the press? You have been always appearing for such… this is the second time…”

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 is 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 Vishwanathan 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.”

NDTV Explains | How The Laddoos Made And How Ingredients Are Procured

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.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Mathura:

The Food Safety and Drug Administration department in Mathura on Monday collected 43 samples of food items from 15 shops near religious sites in Mathura, Vrindavan and other places, officials said, and sent a ‘peda’ sample to Lucknow for testing.

FSDA Assistant Commissioner Dhirendra Pratap Singh said in the sampling campaign conducted at many places in Mathura and Vrindavan on Monday, 43 samples were collected from 15 vendors. These include sweets and other items made from milk, ‘paneer’, ‘peda’, ‘barfi’, milk cake, ‘rasgulla’, ‘imarti’, ‘sonpapdi’, other sweets and spices.

He said 42 of them were found to be within the standard but one sample of ‘peda’ was sent to Lucknow for testing.

Dhirendra Pratap Singh said all the samples were collected on Sunday and Monday from the shops around the temples.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Hitting out at the previous YSRCP government, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday alleged that several procedures to procure ghee by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams ( TTD) were altered during the earlier regime.

He also alleged that appointments to the TTD board became like “gambling” during the previous government and there were instances of appointing people who had no faith and giving preferences to non-Hindus on the board.

The CM said people’s sentiments were hurt after the revelation with regard to laddu.

Mr Naidu said, as per the earlier conditions, the ghee supplier should have at least three years of experience. However, after Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power it was reduced to one year.

The CM also said that the required turnover of the supplier was also reduced to Rs 150 crore from the earlier Rs 250 crore.

Mr Naidu asked how one can supply pure ghee at Rs 319 when even palm oil is costlier than that.

He said AR Dairy Foods Pvt Ltd started supplying ghee from June 12, 2024.

Referring to the letter written by Jagan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the YSRCP chief was trying to counterattack by shooting off letters.

There is a special place for Venkateswara Swamy’s Prasadam, because of its pure ingredients, and uncompromising quality of making for the past 300 years.

During an NDA legislative party meeting a few days ago, the TDP supremo claimed that the previous YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fat for making laddus.

Two days later, on September 20, TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao in a press conference said lab tests had revealed the presence of animal fat and lard in chosen samples and the board is in the process of blacklisting the contractor who supplied “adulterated” ghee.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has slammed rivals YSR Congress and his predecessor, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, over a lab report about animal fats in ghee used to make laddoos offered as prasadam, or devotional offerings, at the temple town of Tirupati.

A July 17 report from the Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food, or CALF, lab at the centre-run National Dairy Development Board in Gujarat, released Wednesday, said it found animal fat in ghee used to make the famous Tirupati laddoos when the YSRCP was in power.

The report indicated the ghee contained traces of fish oil, beef tallow, and lard; the last is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.

“Even Tirupati laddoo was made with substandard ingredients… they used animal fat instead of ghee,” the Chief Minister raged at a legislature party meeting in Amravati the day before.

He declared his government has ensured a higher quality of ingredients, including ghee, is being used now, and that that all food offerings at the iconic temple were now of improved quality.

Mr Naidu’s son and Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh also joined the attack.

The lord venkateswara swamy temple at Tirumala is our most sacred temple. I am shocked to learn that the @ysjagan administration used animal fat instead of ghee in the tirupati Prasadam. Shame on @ysjagan and the @ysrcparty government that couldn’t respect the religious… pic.twitter.com/UDFC2WsoLP

— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) September 18, 2024

“The Lord Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala is our most sacred temple. I am shocked to learn that the Jagan Mohan Reddy administration used animal fat instead of ghee… shame on them… (their) government could not respect the religious sentiments of crores of devotees.”

Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, who is from the TDP, told NDTV “we always knew YSRCP was involved in corruption… but didn’t think they would do this with Tirupati”.

“The deity is sacred and special to all in the state… and now NDDB itself has confirmed presence of animal fat. This is beyond shocking and disgusting. The government will get to the bottom of this,” he said, vowing action against those responsible. “We know this is the beginning. More will come out.”

The YSRCP, however, has 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 sanctity of the temple, and of the crores of devotees, by making such outrageous comments.

రాజకీయం లబ్ధికోసం ఎంతటి నీచానికైనా చంద్రబాబు వెనుకాడడని మరోమారు నిరూపితం అయ్యింది. భక్తుల విశ్వాసాన్ని బలపరిచేందుకు తిరుమల ప్రసాదం విషయంలో నేను, నా కుటుంబం ఆ దేవ దేవుని సాక్షిగా ప్రమాణానికి సిద్ధంగా ఉన్నాం. చంద్రబాబుకూడా తన కుటుంబంతో ప్రమాణానికి సిద్ధమా?2/2

— Y V Subba Reddy (@yvsubbareddymp) September 18, 2024

YSRCP’s YV Subba Reddy wrote in Telugu on X that “it has been proved once again that Chandrababu (Naidu) will not hesitate to do anything bad for the benefit of politics”. The YSRCP leader also declared himself ready “to take an oath as witnesses… in (this) case” and asked, “Is he also ready to take oath?”

The Congress, meanwhile, has also taken shots at the YSR Congress, with the former Chief Minister’s sister, now the boss of the Congress’ state unit, demanding a high-level CBI inquiry. The claim, she said in Telugu on X, is “damaging to the sanctity of the deity worshipped by millions of Hindus”.

“If there are no political angles to your allegations… if you have no intention of playing politics on this issue… form a high-level committee or call for a CBI inquiry. Find out who is responsible,” she said.

“The Congress demands you find out the truth,” she declared.

An estimated three lakh laddoos are made in Tirupati every day. To make these the temple trust buys massive quantities of ghee via e-tenders issued every six months.