Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register an FIR in connection with the alleged scam in the procurement of books for public libraries in Tamil Nadu, and directed the authorities to take necessary steps to freeze the bank accounts of the alleged fraudulent publishers, Live Law reported.

Source: Live Law

A bench of Justice G.R. Swaminathan and Justice M.D. Sumathi passed the interim orders on a contempt petition filed by advocate Ramasubbu, who alleged non-compliance with the court's earlier order on the procurement of books for public libraries. The court also directed the Director of Public Libraries to submit a list of the officials who were responsible for the fraudulent procurement of books.

The case goes back to 2024, when a division bench comprising Justice R. Mahadevan and Justice G.R. Swaminathan directed that book procurement for public libraries across Tamil Nadu must comply with the School Education Department's Government Order dated March 7, 2024, and directed the state to constitute an expert committee to look into allegations of irregular procurement. The contempt petitioner has alleged that officials who held key administrative positions during 2024-2026 were obliged to comply with those directions and did not — an allegation the court is now examining.

On the same day, DVAC officials launched a detailed inquiry into the alleged scam and inspected the official records at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai and the Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. A DVAC team under Deputy Superintendent of Police Kandasamy inspected the documents pertaining to book procurement during the previous DMK regime at the Anna Centenary Library at Kotturpuram, while a separate team examined records at the Periyar Arivulagam. The action follows a complaint filed by the School Education Department with the DVAC; initial verification by the state government indicated that multiple suspicious publishing firms were operating out of a single address.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Tuesday's orders are the latest development in a row that surfaced last week, when writer Perumal Murugan flagged irregularities regarding nearly 1,800 books from a single publisher, Agal Vilakku Pathippagam, stocked at the newly inaugurated Rs 300 crore Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore. School Education Minister A. Rajmohan has alleged that the procurement process was heavily manipulated during the previous DMK regime to benefit unknown entities, bypassing established publishers, and that low-quality, allegedly AI-generated books with fabricated information were procured. These are allegations; they have not been established. The publisher's books were removed from the Periyar Arivulagam shelves on Saturday, authorities have sealed approximately 3,000 books in Coimbatore, and 523 problematic books have been identified at the Connemara Public Library in Chennai, with all identified AI-generated books being removed from libraries across the state, the minister said.

The case has triggered a political row: the ruling TVK blames the previous DMK government for approving the bulk purchase orders, while the opposition DMK has demanded an impartial probe to pinpoint which specific officials cleared the procurement. According to sources cited by BusinessLine, the DVAC will fix responsibility on the persons involved following its detailed enquiry.

Air News reported that the bench will resume proceedings on Wednesday to review the DVAC's registered case and a status report from the state government on who sanctioned the contracts. Further details are awaited.

Source: Air News