Laddu Ghee Case: TTD EO Anil Singhal Transferred
The Andhra Pradesh government appointed M Ravi Chandra, who is presently working in CMO, as TTD EO
Nellore: The Andhra Pradesh government has transferred Anil Kumar Singhal, executive officer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, following a note from the CBI-SIT probing the supply of ‘adulterated ghee’ for the Srivari Laddu prasadam.
The government on Sunday issued orders placing Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s principal secretary Muddada Ravi Chandra in full additional charge as TTD executive officer.
The SIT, which has already filed a chargesheet in the adulterated ghee case, recently submitted a detailed 14-page letter to the state government. In it, the team stated that several decisions taken by the TTD board during the relevant period were implemented without adequate scrutiny.
The SIT observed that Anil Kumar Singhal, during his tenure as EO, along with former additional EO A.V. Dharma Reddy and financial adviser and chief accounts officer O. Balaji, failed to exercise due diligence in discharging their responsibilities.
According to the letter, the officials were negligent in formulating and enforcing quality standards for ghee supplied to the TTD. “The procurement norms were diluted and sufficient care was not taken in framing the rules, resulting in a compromise in the quality of ghee used for laddu preparation.”
The SIT recommended disciplinary action against the three senior officials who held key positions at that time.
The investigators also referred to changes made to ghee procurement norms after the YSRC came to power in 2019. “The stringent conditions were relaxed, including norms related to milk procurement, butter collection and ghee production capacity.”
Exemptions were granted from the requirement of minimum operational experience. The mandatory turnover threshold was reduced from Rs 250 crore to Rs 150 crore.
According to the SIT, these relaxations facilitated the supply of adulterated ghee. Around 88.1 lakh kg of such ghee was supplied to TTD between 2019 and 2024, adversely affecting the prescribed quality standards of Srivari Laddu prasadam, it averred.