Tirupati Laddu Case: Supreme Court Postpones Hearing to October 4

The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on the petitions related to the Tirumala Laddu controversy. Following a last-minute request by the Solicitor General, the court has rescheduled the hearing for Friday. During the previous session, the Supreme Court had sought clarification from the Central Government on whether the investigation conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed by the Andhra Pradesh Government, should continue or whether an independent investigation should be carried out.

The Apex court had asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to provide his opinion on this matter by today. However, when the hearing was scheduled for 3:30 PM today, the Solicitor General requested additional time until tomorrow. In response, the court agreed to an extensive hearing tomorrow and announced that it would listen to both sides’ arguments. The bench comprising Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K.V. Viswanathan is overseeing the case.

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Hearing on Four Petitions:

The petitions were filed in response to allegations made by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, claiming that the sacred Tirumala Laddu offering had been adulterated with contaminated ghee. Former Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), requesting the formation of a committee under the supervision of the Supreme Court to investigate the matter thoroughly.

In addition, another PIL was filed by Y.V. Subba Reddy, a senior YSRCP leader and Rajya Sabha member, requesting the appointment of a retired Supreme Court judge to conduct an independent inquiry into the issue of adulterated ghee.

Two additional petitions were filed separately by Sampath, Sridhar, and Suresh Chavhanke, all of which were combined and are being heard by the bench led by Justice Gavai. During the previous hearing on September 30, the Supreme Court expressed serious concern over the comments made by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, stating that they were irresponsible given his position.

Senior advocates Rajasekhar Rao, Raghav Awasthi, and Sonia Mathur represented Subramanian Swamy, Sampath, Sridhar, and Suresh Chavhanke, respectively, while senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi represented the Andhra Pradesh Government, and Siddharth Luthra appeared on behalf of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). Both sides presented their arguments for nearly an hour, which were duly recorded by the court.

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