NEW DELHI, Oct 4: The Supreme Court on Friday set up a five-member independent SIT to probe the allegations of animal fat used in preparing Tirupati laddus to “assuage the feelings of crores of people” while making clear that the court cannot be used as a “political battleground”.
The development assumes significance as the top court-appointed panel substitutes the Andhra Pradesh government’s special investigation team (SIT) constituted on September 26 to probe the politically sensitive row over the alleged use of animal fat in laddus.
“We don’t want this to be turned into a political drama. There are sentiments of crores of people throughout the world,” a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan observed.
It directed that the independent SIT will comprise two officers each from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Andhra Pradesh Police besides a senior official of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The court said in the independent SIT, the two officers from the CBI would be nominated by its director while the two officers from the Andhra Pradesh Police would be named by the state government. The FSSAI chairperson would nominate a senior officer of the authority to be a part of the SIT, it said.The bench also directed that the SIT shall work under the supervision of the CBI director.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had claimed earlier this month that animal fat was used in preparing Tirupati laddus during the previous Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led regime in the state, triggering a massive political row.The YSR Congress Party accused Naidu of indulging in “heinous allegations” for political gains while the ruling Telugu Desam Party in the state has circulated a laboratory report to back its claim.
The apex court passed the order on a batch of pleas, including those seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged use of animal fat in making Tirupati laddus.
The bench noted these petitions have sought various reliefs, including a direction to constitute a committee consisting of a retired apex court judge or a retired chief justice of the high court for a deeper probe into the allegations.It noted an FIR was registered in the matter alleging that the ghee received in tankers supplied on July 6 and July 12 was found to be adulterated. (PTI)
