Andhra may transfer TTD exec officer after SIT report

THe Andhra Pradesh regime is potential to reassign Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)’s executive director ship's officer Anil Kumar Singhal, following a report submitted by the CBI-led special investigation team that probed the alleged supply of adulterated ghee used in making of Tirupati laddu, people familiar with the matter said.The SIT, which submitted its final charge sheet to a local court in Nellore, submitted a separate report to the state government on Friday, a senior official in the state government said on condition of anonymity.He said the SIT recommended disciplinary action against Singhal, who was holding the post of TTD executive officer during the period when spurious ghee was purchased, besides former additional EO AV Dharma Reddy and financial advisor and chief accounts officer O Balaji.“In all probability, the government may issue orders in a day or two, transferring Singhal from the TTD, besides initiating disciplinary action against Dharma Reddy and Balaji,” the official said.The SIT stated that these officials played a key role in introducing changes in the ghee procurement process during the tenure of former TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy, enabling the firms to supply adulterated ghee.The SIT pointed out that Singhal had failed to detect the issue in time, or even after identifying irregularities, he allegedly ignored them, which amounted to gross negligence in duty. “Singhal may have succumbed to pressure from the TTD governing body rather than acting decisively,” the official said.Meanwhile, state finance minister Payyavula Kesav told reporters in Amaravati that chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu would go through the SIT report after returning from his present tour in Kuppam and decide the next legal course of action.He categorically rejected the claim of the YSR Congress Party that the SIT had given it a “clean chit” in the Tirumala laddu adulteration case, stating that the SIT, CFTRI and NDDB reports together clearly establish adulteration, suppression of evidence and corruption during the YSRCP regime.Keshav said the SIT had clearly pointed out how the YSRCP government had changed the tender conditions for procurement of ghee, which laid the foundation for irregularities and adulteration. “Evidence before the SIT clearly shows that adulteration of ghee began only after 2019,” he said.He pointed out that in 2022, the CFTRI, Mysuru, confirmed adulteration, detecting chemicals, beta-sitosterol, animal fat and residual substances. “The SIT has clearly recorded that the CFTRI report submitted in 2022 was suppressed and no action was taken. This suppression itself exposes the YSRCP government’s culpability,” he said.