The alleged missing of “Pink diamond” from the jewellery of Lord Venkateshwara of Tirumala is now a closed chapter. The Andhra Pradesh high court has refused to order any fresh inquiry into the issue.
A division bench comprising chief justice Arup Kumar Goswami and justice C Praveen Kumar dismissed a public interest litigation filed by a Telugu Desam Party leader Yallapalli Vidya Sagar from Tirupati seeking an inquiry into the allegations of missing pink diamond from the Lord’s jewellery.
The PIL was obviously filed to embarrass the YSR Congress party leader V Vijay Sai Reddy, who had alleged during the Telugu Desam Party regime led by N Chandrababu Naidu that the latter had smuggled it to Switzerland, where it was auctioned in 2018.
Similar allegation was made by then chief priest of Tirumala A V Ramana Deekshitulu. Former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams executive officers L V Subrahmanyam and IYR Krishna Rao also gave different versions on missing of pink diamond, presented to Lord Venkateshwara by former Mysore Maharaja decades ago.
The TDP leader sought to trouble the YSRC leader and others by making them respondents in the case. He said there had been a lot of confusion that the diamond was allegedly stolen and auctioned in Switzerland.
He also sought an investigation into the allegation of former TTD chief priest, who had said that the diamond was broken.
However, the high court bench said that the court was not inclined to entertain the present petition as there have been two independent committees, including one constituted by the Supreme Court, and disposed of the petition saying there is no need for any further inquiry into the matter.