Mannat Saini, Pune
In the ongoing controversy regarding the Tirupati Mandir Laddu, the Supreme Court stated that the lab tests indicate that the samples of ghee belong to a cooking medium, which was not used in the making of the laddus at the Tirupati Mandir in Andhra Pradesh.
Thus, in this regard, the Supreme Court sought Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to understand why he would address the public with unverified information, without waiting for the official report on the matter. Chandrababu Naidu had earlier made the prima facie lab reports available to the public that purported that the laddus being offered to the deity of Tirupati Mandir and later being offered as prasad to devotees who visited the temple did not contain ghee and were in fact, made from contaminated animal and vegetable fat.
Now that the allegations are debunked, the Supreme Court demanded the center on whether or not the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Andhra Pradesh Government should continue to investigate the allegations. For now, the matter has been set for a further hearing on the 3rd of October, till which time the court has mandated the state to limit interactions in the matter.
The judges presiding over the matter, B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan have advised Naidu to keep state politics and religious beliefs separate stating, “We expect Gods to be kept away from Politics.” CM Chandrababu Naidu was also questioned by Justice Viswanathan on why he would address the public without the presence of a confirmed official report, while Justice Gavai demanded the necessity of going to the press with such sensitive information without the actual outcome of the investigation.
The bench of judges went on to conclude that since Chandrababu Naidu’s claims were made even before the FIR was filed in the matter or the Special Investigation Team was formed, it was inappropriate on his behalf as part of a high constitutional functionary to make the information public. The bench also noted that this information could have drastically affected the sentiments of crores of people and devotees who visit the temple.