Tirupati Prasadam row: SC adjourns hearing to Friday

New Delhi, Oct 3 : The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned, till October 4, the hearing on a clutch of petitions seeking a court-monitored probe into the controversy surrounding the alleged use of animal fat in Tirupati laddus.

The Justice B.R. Gavai-led bench decided to postpone the hearing to Friday morning on a request made by Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, the second-highest law officer of the Centre.

In the previous hearing, SG Mehta was asked to obtain instructions if the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Andhra Pradesh Police should be allowed to probe the controversy or if the investigation be handed over to an independent agency.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Police have temporarily stalled the SIT probe into the alleged adulteration of Tirupati laddu after the matter came under the top court's scanner.

The Supreme Court, in the first hearing held on Monday, observed that there was prima facie nothing to show that animal fat was used in the preparation of Tirupati laddus during the previous YSRCP regime in Andhra Pradesh. It said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu should have "kept the gods away from politics" before rushing in to make public statements based on unsure facts that lard was used to prepare the laddus under the previous regime.

"We are, prima facie, of the view that it was not appropriate on the part of a high constitutional functionary to go in public to make a statement which can affect the sentiment of crores of people and when investigation to find out adulterated ghee was used to make laddus was underway," the SC said. It observed that if the SIT probe was ordered by the state government, no public statement should have been made by the Chief Minister.

Further, the SC noted that the statement was made by CM Chandrababu Naidu on September 18, which was "even prior to the FIR being lodged on September 25" and the SIT being constituted the next day.