5 publishers · first seen Thu, 05 Nov 2026 07:28 UTC · updated Thu, 05 Nov 2026 12:13 UTC
The Supreme Court has decided to keep the trial of the Tirupati laddu adulteration case in Andhra Pradesh, despite a plea from the accused to move it to a neighboring state. The bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, dismissed the petition filed by Machindra Shantaram Lanke, a dairy businessman from Maharashtra. Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Lanke, argued that political statements from Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister had created a hostile environment, potentially affecting the fairness of the trial. However, the court cited the presence of local witnesses and the ongoing investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) as reasons for not transferring the case.
The controversy began in September 2024 when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu accused the previous government of using animal fat in the preparation of Tirupati laddus, a sacred offering at the Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam. The Supreme Court had previously constituted an independent SIT to investigate the allegations, which found no presence of animal fat in the ghee samples.
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