Madras High Court Uncovers Major Library Book Scam in Tamil Nadu

The Madras High Court previously termed the irregularities in buying books for public libraries in Tamil Nadu a major scam and directed the government to set up an inquiry committee. Justices R. Mahadevan and G.R. Swaminathan issued these directions while allowing a petition filed in June 2024 by a petitioner who exposed deep corruption in the system.

The Scam Methods

A literary forum head from Nagercoil named S. Krishnan originally moved the court in 2019 during the AIADMK rule to complain about unfair book purchases. The court noted that the Director of Public Library bought books using notifications, but rules were constantly broken. For example, a 2013 book titled 'Veeram Vilaintha Varalatru Puthinangal Part-I' was just a copy of Kalki's 'Sivakamiyin Sabatham'. Fraudsters took nationalized books or books with expired copyrights and re-published them under fake titles and covers with new authors' names. Library rules state that once a book is bought, it cannot be bought again for five years, but these nationalized books were reprinted and bought every year.

Court Directions

Mr. Krishnan submitted evidence including a newspaper report from January 11, 2019, where a publisher claimed that 99% of books printed for government library orders are not found in open shops. Another publisher stated that one person runs a dozen different publishing names just to get government orders by paying bribes. Since the government failed to file its reply for five years, the court accepted all the petitioner's claims as true. The School Education Department later issued a Government Order on March 7, 2024, introducing the Transparent Book Procurement Policy 2024, but the judges stated this policy does not clear past wrongdoings by officials. The court ordered the Director of Public Libraries to use a user-friendly website, email publishers with at least 200 books, display shortlisted book covers online, and give the public one month to send objections. It also asked the government to form a committee, finish an inquiry report in five months, and publish an action taken report six months later to punish or prosecute guilty officials. Writer Perumal Murugan also recently exposed bad books with wrong history entering the Periyar Arivulagam library shelves in Coimbatore.

Context

Public libraries in India depend entirely on government funds and official purchases to stock their shelves for everyday readers and students. When oversight fails, it directly impacts the quality of education and historical awareness available to the general public. Court interventions in such administrative processes aim to bring back transparency and protect public money from being wasted on fake or low-quality supplies.