Published Mar 05, 2026 | 9:50 AM ⚊ Updated Mar 05, 2026 | 9:50 AM
Retired IAS officer Dinesh Kumar.
Synopsis: The one-man committee headed by retired IAS officer Dinesh Kumar commenced its inquiry into administrative lapses in the TTD that led to the adulteration of ghee used in the making of the sacred laddu prasadam. The Andhra Pradesh government constituted the committee on 20 February, mandating it to submit its report within 45 days.
The one-man committee headed by retired IAS officer Dinesh Kumar officially commenced its inquiry into administrative lapses in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) that led to the adulteration of ghee used in the making of the sacred laddu prasadam.
He got down to the work on Tuesday, 3 March, after a darshan of the Lord.
He has been appointed as a one-man committee to investigate administrative lapses in TTD during the previous YSRCP rule. The committee has been tasked to identify the specific officials and functionaries responsible for lapses in the procurement process that finally led to adulteration of ghee.
The Andhra Pradesh government constituted the committee on 20 February, by a Government Order (GO Rt No. 458), mandating it to submit its report within 45 days.
Dinesh Kumar, a retired IAS officer from the 1983 batch, will examine the Self-Contained Note (SCN) submitted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which had investigated the criminal aspects of the case under the supervision of the CBI Director following a Supreme Court order.
According to sources, Dinesh Kumar met the officials of the TTD and elicited information on the supply of adulterated ghee from the heads of various departments. He is understood to have inquired about the finalisation of tenders under the YSRCP regime, relaxation of rules, and lapses in checking the quality of ghee supplied.
He reportedly asked the officials to apprise him of details on specific issues in the procurement and checking of the quality of ghee. Dinesh Kumar has set up his office in Padmavathi Guest House in Tirumala, from where he will be functioning.
According to the terms of reference outlined in the GO, under which he was appointed as head of the committee, it has to probe the “administrative and governance aspects”. Its primary objective is to assess lapses, omissions, or failures in the relaxation and enforcement of tender conditions for ghee supply.
The panel will scrutinise whether the decisions regarding procurement were taken with due diligence and proper procedural compliance. Ultimately, the committee is empowered to identify the extent of administrative responsibility of officers, purchase committee members, and other TTD functionaries and recommend appropriate disciplinary action against them.
The formation of this panel follows the SIT filing a charge sheet in court on 23 January. While the criminal case is proceeding, the SIT’s self-contained note flagged serious irregularities in the administrative process and recommended initiating action against erring officials.
The Dinesh Kumar committee has been authorised to call for official records and seek written clarifications from the officers concerned to determine who altered tender conditions and why.
The debate has been raging over the issue for quite some time in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council and also in the Assembly. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has reiterated during a special discussion on the issue in the Assembly recently that a “syndicate” during the previous YSRCP regime was responsible for the adulteration.
He has been alleging that between 2019 and 2024, nearly 60 lakh kg of adulterated ghee was used to make over 20 crore laddus, costing the TTD over ₹234 crore. “There was a conspiracy angle. They became a syndicate,” Naidu stated in the Assembly recently, adding that forensic evidence has proven the adulteration.
However, the Opposition YSRCP has vehemently criticised the inquiry. Senior YSRCP leader and former TTD chairman B Karunakar Reddy recently termed the one-man panel an “insult to the Supreme Court and the judicial process.”
He alleged that the Naidu government is engaging in a “political drama” because the CBI-led SIT investigation did not find anything against the YSRCP leaders, and this new committee is a ploy to frame former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
“The new committee is aimed at framing YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and other YSRCP leaders in the ghee issue after Naidu’s attempts failed through the SIT process,” Karunakar Reddy claimed.
The political heat surrounding the inquiry had previously reached the Supreme Court, which on 23 February cleared the legal hurdle for the committee’s work. A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India dismissed a petition challenging the parallel inquiry, observing that an administrative enquiry does not overlap with criminal proceedings.
The court noted that the SIT had already filed its charge sheet, and the administrative probe was necessary to identify the lapses and the persons responsible within the TTD administration.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
