CM Chandrababu Naidu wants sitting judge to verify TTD records, clear air

HYDERABAD: Just days after announcing that his government would seek comprehensive verification of the affairs of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), especially the management of donations made to Srivari Temple, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday wrote to Hyderabad High Court Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan requesting him to appoint a sitting judge to take stock of allegations against the temple board, scrutinise records and place his or her report in the public domain.

 Former chief priest AV Ramana Deekshitulu’s comment that a pink diamond donated to the temple had gone missing created a flutter in the state. With political parties particularly the YSRC and the BJP targeting Naidu, the TDP supremo hinted at setting up a judicial committee to look into the matter.

 “As the sensitivity of the issue reached alarming proportions and any amount of counter justification that all is well either by the TTD or the Government, is unable to provide solace to the public at large and devotees in particular... I request ... (you too) scrutinise the procedures in vogue,” Naidu wrote and alleged that “certain vested interests” had triggered unwarranted unrest in the minds of devotees.

Allegations maligning the temple board had led to the appointment of two committees in the past (in 2009 and 2011). Both ruled out any wrongdoing.