Tirumala laddu row | Andhra government sets up One-Man Panel to examine TTD ghee scandal lapses

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday formed a one-man committee to review a CBI-supervised SIT's note on the alleged adulteration of ghee used for Tirumala laddu prasadam. Former state chief secretary Dinesh Kumar heads the panel, which will suggest action against erring TTD committee members and senior officers for lapses in relaxing or enforcing ghee tender rules.

In October 2024, the Supreme Court handed the probe to an independent SIT under the CBI Director. After wrapping up, the SIT filed a chargesheet on January 23 and sent a detailed note to the government recommending steps against TTD officials for failures in tender oversight.

The committee's job is to gauge administrative slip-ups in tender handling, check if decisions had proper reasoning and followed procedure, pinpoint responsibility among officers and members, and propose disciplinary moves. It sticks to governance issues only, can pull records, get clarifications or expert input with government nod. Government fixed a timeline of 45 days for the committee to submit the report.

The SIT chargesheet exposed a Rs 234 crore scam over five years, where fake, synthetic, and heavily adulterated ghee went into the revered Tirumala laddu prasadam. It named several TTD officials in the scandal along with a few dairy owners.