The Supreme Court left the probe into the Tirupati Laddu controversy to an independent special investigation team. The Special Investigation Team will comprise two officials from the CBI and the state police and an officer from the FSSAI. The CBI director will oversee the investigation.
After hearing the arguments in the case today, the Supreme Court directed to form a new investigation team. The case was heard by a bench comprising justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan.
The investigation team will have two members each from CBI and Andhra Pradesh Police and one member from FSSAI. The Supreme Court said that the CBI director will be in charge of the investigation. After the incident of finding animal fat in Tirupati Laddu, the state government had appointed a nine-member investigation team. Later, this investigation was stopped after the Supreme Court intervened in the matter.
The court said that the formation of the new investigation team was not an encroachment on the investigation team formed by the state, but the decision was made respecting the sentiments of crores of believers. At the same time, he pointed out that this issue should not be made a platform for political drama, and that this incident has caused distress to lakhs of devotees. The Supreme Court also said that if Tirupati Laddu contains animal fat, the issue should be dealt with very seriously.
