Madras HC Gives AR Dairy Food More Time To Respond

The Madurai Bench gave the Dindigul-based-company more time to respond in the case relating to supply of ghee used for making Tirupati laddus.

Madurai (Tamil Nadu):The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to issue supplementary notice and grant time to AR Dairy Food, Dindigul, to respond to it in the case relating to the supply of ghee used for making Tirupati laddus.

AR Dairy Food has been making headlines after the ghee supplied by it to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) was found to be adulterated in laboratory tests.

The bench also questioned the Union Health Ministry regarding any violation on the part of the company, which had approached the court challenging the show cause notice issued by the FSSAI. Justice N Sathish Kumar, hearing the plea, questioned the FSSAI on which law and on what basis the show cause notice was issued.

A lawyer appearing for the central government said, "A notice has been sent to the concerned company asking for an explanation. Their ghee has been sent for testing. The notice has been issued based on the report of the Gujarat Institutional Laboratory. If there is no time to respond to it now, we are ready to give more time," he said.

Even though two show-cause warnings were sent, it is evident that the accusations were substantiated. On Justice N Sathish Kumar noted that the first show-cause letter was sent on September 29, seeking an explanation on October 2, a declared holiday.

Furthermore, the results of the Gujarat lab appeared at odds with a report that was supplied by a government lab in Chennai. The judge further declared that sufficient time should be allowed for a response to the notice.

What is the Tirupati Laddu Row:The famous Tirupati laddus sparked major controversy after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that ‘animal fat’ was in the ghee used to make the laddus during the previous regime headed by YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

In September, Naidu cited a lab report whose results showed that ghee used to make the laddoos was contaminated, possibly with animal fats such as beef tallow and lard.