On Monday, the Supreme Court emphasized the doctrine of separation of religion and politics while considering three petitions against a report by a Gujarat laboratory claiming to have found fish oil, beef tallow, and lard in the ghee used in the preparation of the famous laddoos distributed at the Andhra Pradesh temple of Tirupati.
While pronouncing the judgment, the court said there was no prima facie evidence to connect the dots between the purported contamination and ghee used in the laddoos. A division bench consisting of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan expressed disquiet over a public statement made by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on the issue when the chief minister had ordered an inquiry into it. The court pointed out that his statements did not come before the lab report was released in July and were not based on hard evidence.
The court sharply criticized the Chief Minister’s comments on September 20 against his rival, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, over the alleged contamination of the Polavaram project. The justices told him to restrain the unnecessary public utterances since the ongoing investigation.
Naidu’s remarks created a political storm. His TDP and allies joined in the chorus of criticism. He also conducted a purification ritual in the temple after the allegations of desecration were made. Reddy and his YSRCP dismissed these allegations as a malicious campaign to take political mileage. Reddy has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing Naidu of dishonesty.
The top court’s intervention came after petitions by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP YV Subba Reddy, who is also chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, the trust in charge of the temple. Swamy has been asking for a comprehensive forensic report from the Andhra government, while Reddy wants an independent investigation into the incident.
On the first day of the hearing, the court admonished Naidu for his public pronouncements while the investigation’s results were awaited, citing respect for religious sentiments. The justices pointed out that it was not established whether the ghee in question was used to prepare the laddoos because the relevant deliveries were not confirmed.
It also quoted a disclaimer in the laboratory report that the result could give false positives and asked Naidu to seek a second opinion before making any public claim. The Tirupati kitchen churns out around 300,000 laddoos every day, and it requires around 1,500 kg of ghee, besides other ingredients. The ghee in question was supplied by a merchant in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.
