Lawyer moves NHRC over Tirupati ghee scandal, calls it ‘national betrayal of faith’

Adulterated ghee was used to make prasadam for lakhs of devotees, which constituted “a national betrayal of faith”, advocate Hitendra Gandhi said in his complaint, urging the NHRC to “safeguard the health, faith, and dignity of millions of citizens”

MUMBAI: A Mumbai-based advocate has urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to take suo motu cognisance of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) ghee scandal, wherein 68 lakh kilograms of allegedly adulterated ghee was supplied to the temple over five years. The adulterated ghee was used to make prasadam for lakhs of devotees, which constituted “a national betrayal of faith”, advocate Hitendra Gandhi said in his complaint, urging the NHRC to “safeguard the health, faith, and dignity of millions of citizens”.

Lawyer moves NHRC over Tirupati ghee scandal, calls it ‘national betrayal of faith’

“This is just not about one trust, one state, or one religion. To allow deceit and corruption in this space is to turn worship into a transaction and holiness into a hazard. NHRC’s intervention is necessary to punish the wrongdoers,” Gandhi said in his complaint filed with the NHRC on Tuesday.

The controversy over supply of adulterated ghee to the temple was sparked in September last year when Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu accused his predecessor, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, of permitting the use of substandard ingredients and animal fat in the ghee used to make prasadam at the temple. Naidu cited a lab report from the National Dairy Development Board, which purportedly confirmed the presence of beef tallow, fish oil, and lard in the ghee supplied to the temple.

Gandhi, in his complaint, referred to recent investigation reports, which confirmed that a Hardiwar-based company, Bhole Baba Dairy Pvt Ltd, had supplied nearly 68 lakh kilograms of spurious, industrial-grade ghee to the TTD between 2019 and 2024. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) that investigated the case initially as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had unearthed forged FSSAI licences, tampered e-way bills, falsified invoices, and counterfeit labels that pointed towards an organised supply-chain conspiracy operating under the temple’s procurement system, Gandhi alleged.

“This was not an act of negligence. It was a carefully engineered betrayal, committed against the faith of devotees from every Indian state and over 150 countries worldwide who visit Tirupati each year believing in the purity of its sacred food,” Gandhi noted in the complaint.

The “systematic adulteration” violated Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution, which forbid selective indifference to food safety when consumed in faith, and guarantee the right of citizens to safe food and to worship in purity, not deceit, the complaint said.

Gandhi called for a national-level inquiry into the case. He also sought creation of a National Faith Food Safety Framework, jointly overseen by the NHRC and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which would mandate periodic accredited testing, random audits, and quarterly public reporting from all large-scale religious and charitable food institutions.