New Delhi: The Tirupati laddoos row, which has caught the entire country’s attention over the last 10 days, came up for hearing at the Supreme Court on Monday.
Hearing three petitions over allegations that animal fat was found in the ghee used to make the laddoos served as prasadam to devotees and ‘fed’ to the deity at Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati temple, the top court made some sharp observations and posed pointed questions.
Underlining the lack of definitive proof of contamination of ghee, the court said if it was indeed contaminated, whether the affected ghee was used to make the laddoos.
Pointing to an ongoing inquiry and a “false positive” testing caveat, the Supreme Court questioned Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for going public with allegations that ghee made with animal fat was used to prepare the famous laddoos without conclusive proof.
“So what was the need to go to the press at all, when you yourself ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation… At least, the Gods should be kept away from politics,” the court said.
The bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan observed that individuals holding constitutional office are expected to keep religion separate from politics, yet CM Naidu spoke about the matter even before an SIT was constituted. The court noted that the CM made the claim on September 18, even though the FIR was lodged on September 25 and SIT constituted on September 26.
“Should such a statement have been made that affects the sentiments of the devotees?… We are of the prima facie view that when investigation was ordered, it was not appropriate for a high constitutional functionary go public with the information,” the two-member bench said.
The court set Thursday afternoon as the date for next hearing, and warned the Chief Minister against a “hat-trick” of unnecessary comments.
“There should be restraint,” Naidu was told.
The chief minister has blamed the previous state government, headed by YSR Congress Party chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, going hammer and tongs at his predecessor, and also carried out a ‘purification’ ceremony for the sacred temple.
Jagan Mohan responded by saying it was, in fact, Naidu who had damaged the temple’s sanctity by making outrageous comments. He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused Naidu of being a “pathological liar”.
The controversy was dragged to Supreme Court after petitions were filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP YV Subba Reddy.