Four petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe or a court-monitored investigation into the allegation of Tirupati Sri Venkateswara Temple laddoos adulterated with beef fat and fish oil, which has shocked millions of devotees across the world.

The allegations that the temple laddoos were laced with animal fat emerged last week by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who had accused the previous YSRCP government led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community by permitting the alleged adulteration of the holy laddoos popularly known as “Srivari Prasadam”.

The issue had taken a political turn with communal overtones as Jagan belongs to the converted Christian community and the Tirupati temple and the “prasadam”, particularly the laddoos, are revered by millions of devotees across the country.

The four petitions have been filed by Hindu Sena president Surjit Singh Yadav, editor of Sudharshan TV Suresh Chavhanke, Y.V. Subba Reddy, a Rajya Sabha member and former chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the trust which manages the temple considered one of the richest in the world in terms of daily collections and having the largest daily footfall. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is the fourth petitioner.

Subba Reddy, who was the TTD chairperson during the previous Jagan regime, while denying the allegations of adulteration, had sought an independent probe either by the CBI or a Supreme Court-monitored probe under the supervision of a retired SC or high court judge.

Seeking an independent court-monitored probe into the allegations, Swamy also urged the SC to ask for a report from the authorities concerned on the details related to the seized samples, the methods of sampling adopted and other details to ensure there is no politicisation of the issue.

While urging the Supreme Court to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution, Swamy stated: “There ought to have been checks and balances internally to supervise, verify and check the quality or the lack of it, of the supplier supplying various ingredients to the temple which go into the making of the prasadam.”

Jagan earlier rubbished the allegations and had accused Naidu of politicising god and the temple for his “narrow political interests”. Jagan had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an independent probe into the allegations.