Tamil Nadu told the Madras High Court on 11 November that the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption would register an FIR by Monday in the alleged purchase of AI-generated and falsely attributed books for public libraries. The assurance followed a written direction from the Madurai Bench the previous day to register a case immediately.
Court asks who recommended the books
Justices G.R. Swaminathan and M.D. Sumathi asked the State to identify the officials involved in recommending and approving the disputed purchases. The court also sought an affidavit from the Director of Public Libraries. The inquiry includes books supplied to Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore.
How the procurement dispute reached court
The hearing arose from a contempt petition alleging that officials failed to follow the High Court’s June 2024 directions on transparent library procurement. In its 10 November order, the bench directed the vigilance agency to register an FIR and ordered steps to freeze accounts linked to a publisher named in the proceedings. It also sought procurement records and an account of public spending on the disputed books.
The State’s assurance concerns the registration of a case. Responsibility for the alleged procurement irregularities remains to be investigated.
Photo: Arun, cropped, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Read the Madras High Court’s 10 November order (Cont. P. (MD) No. 3763 of 2026, PDF)