The Supreme Court has received a public interest litigation (PIL) asking for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation into claims that the renowned Tirupati laddus were made using animal fat. The Hindu Sena president and farmer Surjit Singh Yadav filed the case, claiming that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) were violating Hindu sensitivities by using animal fat in place of ghee for the “laddu prasadam.”
Yadav’s request called for a breach of Hindu religious values, claiming that the use of pig fat in the holy laddus had gravely offended the Hindu community. Millions of devotees receive prasadam from the Sri Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh, which is looked after by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
“The petition has been filed for the benefit of the public in general, who may be incapable of accessing the court themselves on account of being not fully/properly equipped, financially as well as legally, and thus, in no position to resort to the remedy of ‘Public Interest Litigation’,” the plea has said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu started the controversy by claiming that during the previous government led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, animal fat was utilised to prepare the laddus. The YSR Congress Party has refuted the accusations and charged Naidu with inventing “heinous allegations” in order to further his political career. The accusation has sparked a political controversy. To bolster its claims, the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has distributed a laboratory report.
