NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court lawyer has lodged a complaint with the Home Ministry and the Directors General of Police in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh against former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, officials from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), and a contractor accused of supplying adulterated non-vegetarian ghee to the Tirupati temple.
Advocate Vineet Jindal, the complainant, asserted that the accused parties are undermining the temple’s religious integrity by allegedly providing impure, non-vegetarian ghee for prasadam. The complaint states that these actions were undertaken with full awareness of their potential to offend millions of devotees and diminish the sanctity of this highly revered Hindu temple.
The complaint calls for the filing of an FIR under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and demands stringent legal action, including the application of the National Security Act (NSA), against those involved. It points out that a private lab report indicated contamination in the ghee used at the Sri Venkateswara temple, managed by TTD, revealing the presence of various foreign fats, including palm oil, fish oil, beef tallow, and lard.
The laddoo prasadam, which carries deep religious significance, is consumed by millions of Hindus, and any impurity in it is viewed as a serious violation of their faith. The complaint alleges that during Jagan Mohan Reddy’s administration, in collaboration with certain TTD officials and the contractor, the sanctity of this prasadam was compromised.
It references accusations from Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who alleged that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government used substandard ingredients instead of pure ghee in the prasadam. Naidu also accused former TTD Executive Officer Dharma Reddy of awarding the ghee contract to a favored company in Delhi, which allegedly provided the adulterated ghee.
The complaint describes these actions as a deliberate attack on Hindu faith and the sanctity of the Tirupati Temple. It highlights that devotees consumed the prasadam in good faith only to later discover its adulteration. Additionally, it notes that some prasadam was sent to the Ayodhya Ram Temple construction ceremony, further extending the alleged desecration to another sacred Hindu site.
The lawyer condemned these actions as an assault on Hindu sentiments and requested an FIR under specific sections of the BNS, along with the invocation of the NSA, citing widespread violation of cherished spiritual norms that could incite public unrest and threaten national security. The complaint emphasizes that the accused acted with intent, aiming both to profit and to undermine the purity of Hindu rituals, urging timely legal intervention to address these serious offenses that significantly impact the beliefs and sentiments of countless Hindus.
