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Andhra to form panel to identify ‘real culprits’ of Tirumala ghee adulteration
Andhra Pradesh's cabinet will form an inquiry committee to investigate ghee adulteration for Tirumala laddu, ensuring fairness and accountability.
The Andhra Pradesh cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday decided to constitute a high-level inquiry committee to identify the “real culprits” behind the adulteration of ghee supplied to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) for the preparation of famed Tirumala laddu prasadam.
Disclosing this to reporters after the cabinet meeting, state finance minister Payyavula Keshav said the inquiry committee would probe the role of officials and non-officials responsible for the ghee adulteration and examine whether there were any additional administrative lapses, apart from those pointed out by the Central Bureau of Investigation-led special investigation team (SIT) in its final charge sheet submitted to the court.
“The government’s approach is not driven by vengeance but by fairness and due process. We shall give all the people concerned an opportunity to present their version before the committee,” he said.
However, Keshav said officials who admitted that the lapses occurred knowingly, including those who signed files again, would be considered partners in the offence, not merely as part of an administrative lapse.
The advocate general had also been consulted on why this angle was not examined earlier, he said.
“The SIT report had clearly recommended action against all concerned officials – right from senior figures such as former TTD chairman Y V Subba Reddy, former additional executive officer AV Dharma Reddy, chief finance officer O Balaji and former executive officer AK Singhal to members of lower-level committees,” he said.
The finance minister said the committee would be set up immediately and it would be asked to submit the report in a short time.
Keshav said the cabinet had held an extensive discussion on the Tirumala ghee adulteration issue, setting aside the day’s regular agenda to focus exclusively on the matter.
The cabinet thoroughly examined a 11-page confidential report submitted by the CBI-led SIT to the government and the charge sheet filed in the court.
The cabinet observed that the SIT report had identified major lapses in the ghee procurement process, including dilution of tender conditions, quality control failures, submission of forged documents and large scale irregularities in supply chains.
The minister said initial findings from the NDDB–CALF laboratory revealed possible presence of multiple suspected adulterants in the ghee samples, including soybean oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, fish oil, beef tallow and lard.
“These revelations, he noted, were the basis on which the chief minister had raised the issue publicly earlier. The SIT report also noted that warnings issued by the CFTRI laboratory in 2022 were allegedly ignored, and that adulterated ghee supply may have occurred to the extent of nearly 58 lakh litres, raising serious concerns,” he said.
The cabinet decided that both legal and administrative action must be initiated against those found guilty. It also resolved to introduce institutional reforms and strengthen quality control systems to prevent such incidents in the future.
State health minister Satya Kumar Yadav claimed that chemicals were used to manufacture ghee without milk, calling it an act “against nature,” and said the cabinet unanimously agreed that no offender, regardless of stature, should be spared.
YSR Congress Party took strong exception to the state cabinet’s decision to constitute yet another inquiry committee, only to carry out the vengeance politics of the chief minister.
In a statement, YSRCP parliament member from Tirupati Maddila Gurumoorthy said the CBI-led SIT constituted by the Supreme Court categorically concluded that no animal fat was used in the Tirupati laddu.
“The TDP leadership is unable to accept this finding as it went against its false allegations. So, it is pushing for another inquiry committee on the pretext that a report had not come as per its expectations,” he said.
The Lok Sabha MP alleged that this move was part of the so-called “Red Book” politics and questioned what the TDP hoped to achieve by repeatedly reopening a settled matter.
