Amaravati | Amid controversies over the quality of ghee being supplied to TTD, the temple body is set to deploy a modern food testing laboratory equipped with advanced systems such as an "e-tongue" and "e-nose" to ensure stringent quality checks and maintain transparency in supplies.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) administers the world-famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati,
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav has said the ultra-modern laboratory is being established at a cost of Rs 25 crore and is nearing completion.
"E-Tongue and E-Nose (both electronic equipment) ultra modern food laboratory services can detect even micro-level quality deterioration in ghee, these labs will soon be made available in Tirumala," said Yadav in an official press release.
According to Yadav, the E-Tongue system, being procured from France, is capable of detecting even micro-level deterioration in ghee and other raw materials by analysing taste patterns with high precision.
Likewise, the E-Nose system functions by assessing aroma profiles, enabling authorities to identify adulteration and quality defects in ghee and other ingredients used in preparing prasadam.
Currently, only a limited number of laboratories across the country have these facilities, the release said. However, for the first time in Andhra Pradesh, an ultra-modern lab with advanced facilities is coming up in a pilgrim centre, it added
The Rs 25 crore facility is 90 per cent complete and will begin operations next month, he said, adding that the labs will test around 60 raw materials used in preparing laddu prasadam (consecrated food), including ghee and dry fruits.
New Delhi | In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to restrain a one-member committee appointed by the Andhra Pradesh government from reviewing an independent Special Investigation Team's (SIT) report on the Tirumala laddu controversy.
The top court, on October 4, 2024, had set up the five-member independent SIT to probe the allegations of animal fat used in preparing Tirupati laddus to "assuage the feelings of crores of people", while making clear that the court cannot be used as a "political battleground".
On Monday, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymala Bagchi was told by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy that the state government's decision to appoint the one-member committee amounts to setting up a parallel inquiry that would affect the SIT's probe. The plea also assailed statements made by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the row.
Rejecting the submissions, the CJI noted that the SIT probe is already over and the matter is sub-judice as two chargesheets, including a supplementary one, have been submitted in the court.
"Such an administrative enquiry cannot be called as overlapping with the criminal proceedings which led to the chargesheet and the supplementary chargesheet," the CJI said.
"There is no conflict of interest/overlapping, and the scope of the investigation/enquiry, having been well demarcated, shows that apprehension of the petitioner does not have a solid foundation. Let both processes continue strictly in accordance with the law," the court said.
Swamy argued that the state government's move undermines the authority of the SIT, constituted earlier by the Supreme Court itself to probe irregularities surrounding the laddus distributed by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the SIT has completed its investigation and filed its final report.
He underlined that according to the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) manual, if administrative lapses not connected to a criminal matter are found during a probe, then those have to be intimated to the state government, and as the SIT has found certain administrative lapses, the Andhra Pradesh government's panel is looking into those.
The panel replaced the state government's SIT, constituted on September 26, 2024, following the politically-sensitive row over the alleged use of animal fat in the laddus.
The controversy erupted after Naidu's claim that animal fat was used in preparing Tirupati laddus during the previous Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led regime in the southern state.
The YSR Congress Party has accused Naidu of levelling "heinous allegations" against it for political gains, while the ruling Telugu Desam Party in the state has circulated a laboratory report to back its claim.
A batch of pleas, including those seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged use of animal fat in making the laddus, was then filed in the apex court.
