Political row over final charge sheet which says Tirumala ghee had no animal fat

The CBI-led SIT's charge sheet on adulterated ghee for Tirumala laddus reveals a political controversy, exonerating the YSRCP amid allegations of animal fat.

The final charge sheet submitted by the Central Bureau of India-led special investigation team (SIT) to the Andhra Pradesh high court on January 23 in connection with the alleged adulterated ghee used in the making of the famed Tirumala laddu has kicked up a political controversy.

Political row over final charge sheet which says Tirumala ghee had no animal fat

The 219-page charge sheet submitted by the SIT, supplemented by various annexures, revealed that the adulterated ghee supplied to the TTD between 2019 and 2024, by the accused dairy firm was not made from cow milk, but was artificially made using palm kernel oil, palm oil and palm stearin. HT has reviewed the final charge sheet.

Quoting the test reports of the ghee provided by the National Dairy Development Board’s Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (NDDB CALF) in Anand, Gujarat; and ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (ICAR-NDRI) in Karnal, Haryana, the SIT said the ghee samples did not seem to contain beef tallow, pig lard and fish oil, as was suspected initially.

In September 2024, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu made a sensational allegation that the ghee supplied by certain dairies to the TTD during the YSR Congress Party regime led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was mixed with animal fat.

Quoting a lab report from NDDB, Naidu said some samples of ghee which reveal the presence of beef tallow, lard (relating to pig fat), and fish oil in ghee used for the preparation of the laddus.

On Thursday, the YSRCP claimed that the CBI-led SIT exonerated the then government and demanded an apology from the chief minister for making wild allegations stating that the ghee supplied to the TTD for making laddu prasadam contained animal fat, including beef tallow and fish lard.

Senior YSRCP leader and former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy said both Naidu and deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan had spoken loudly about adulteration of ghee to malign the then Jagan Mohan Reddy government.

“But the CBI report clearly confirmed that no animal fat was found in the Tirupati laddu. The test reports exposed the false propaganda and political drama created by the coalition leaders,” he said.

He said the SIT categorically stated that there was a nexus between certain officials and ghee suppliers, and that there was no mention of any YSRCP leader in the case. He challenged the coalition government to order a CBI probe into ghee supply during the 2014–2019 period to reveal the complete truth.

TDP general secretary and state IT minister Nara Lokesh alleged that the YSRCP was trying to mislead the public even after committing a “grave sin.” He said the CBI-led SIT clearly confirmed adulteration of ghee in the holy prasadam, but the YSRCP was attempting to distort reports and divert public attention.

“It is an unforgivable offence. Using adulterated ghee made from synthetic oils and chemicals without a trace of milk is a crime that cannot be pardoned,” Lokesh said, in an interaction with the cabinet colleagues on Wednesday. He asked them to firmly counter the YSRCP conspiracies and expose the party’s actions before the public.

The ghee adulteration case

During the previous YSRCP regime, the TTD allegedly procured adulterated ghee from a Tamil Nadu-based dairy firm AR Foods for the preparation of sacred “laddu prasadam” offered to the devotees.

The fraud came to light after the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition came to power in June 2024 and ordered an inquiry. After Naidu’s allegations that the ghee was adulterated with animal fat in September 2024, the state government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) headed by inspector general Sarvashreshta Tripathi to probe into the case.

However, the accused challenged the constitution of the SIT by the state government in the Supreme Court and the apex court in October 2024 ordered the creation of a new, independent five-member SIT, replacing the state-appointed SIT.

The SC-appointed SIT, consisting of two CBI officers, two senior police officers from Andhra Pradesh, and one official from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has been directly supervised by the CBI director.

The CBI-led SIT took up investigation and interrogated several persons connected with the case. In all, the SIT arrested 10 people, including TTD general manager (procurement) RSSVR Subrahmanyam, Pomil Jain and Bipin Jain, directors of Bhole Baba Dairy, Apurva Vinay Kant Chawda, CEO of Sri Vaishnavi Dairy and Raju Rajasekharan, the MD of AR Dairy.

What the latest charge sheet states

The final charge sheet filed by the SIT has named 36 persons as accused in the supply of adulterated ghee to the TTD during 2019-2024. It said Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain of Bhole Baba dairy and two others entered into criminal conspiracy with other accused persons and purchased refined palm kernel oil, refined palm oil and refined palmolein oil, from Budge Budge Refineries Ltd., Kolkata and other firms through their entities - Harsh Trading Company and Harsh Fresh Dairy Foodz Private Limited.

It said the accused had procured lactic acid food grade from Aristo Chemicals, acetic acid ester, monoglycerides from Sugandh Oils and Chemicals, Shivanshi Trading Company and GR Implex and also procured beta carotene and ghee flavour.

“Without procuring milk as well as butter or cream, they prepared the adulterated ghee in Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Private Limited at Bhagwanpur, by mixing the refined palm oil, refined palm kernel oil and refined palmolein with minimal quantity of ghee along with chemicals to adjust the lab test values and to maintain aroma in adulterated ghee,” the SIT said.

During financial years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 (up to September 2024), the accused prepared 68.17 lakh kg of adulterated ghee worth ₹234.51 crore. Though Harsh Fresh Dairy and Bhole Baba Organic Dairy were not eligible to participate in TTD ghee tenders, they managed to get the tenders by submitting false and fabricated documents to meet the TTD tender specifications.

The SIT charged the accused with colluding with TTD officials who were entrusted with the task of inspecting the dairy plants and certify their authenticity. “These plant inspection committee members of the TTD, wilfully did not inspect the dairy plants properly and deliberately submitted favourable plant inspection reports after obtaining undue favours from these companies,” the report said.

“The said adulterated ghee was utilized for the preparation of sacred laddu and other prasadams in TTD which hurt the sentiments of crores of devotees,” the SIT report said.

The SIT also named Kaduru Chinna Appanna, former personal assistant to then TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy, stating that he had demanded bribe of ₹25 per kg as commission amount for supply of adulterated ghee to the TTD. He also accepted a bribe of ₹50 lakh in cash from Jagmohan Gupta of Premier Agri Foods Private Limited to extend the official favour.