PM's Mann Ki Baat not procured but Agal Vilakku books were fine? Madras High Court asks on public libraries row

The Madras High Court on Wednesday questioned how books by scam-accused publisher Agal Vilakku Publication were deemed fit for addition to Tamil Nadu’s public libraries, when even a recommendation to procure Manathin Kural - the Tamil translation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat - was disregarded. 

A Bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and MD Sumathi was hearing a case concerning an alleged scam in the procurement of books for public libraries, including Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore. 

“On thing, this is inside information for me, Prime Minister's Mann Ki Baat - Manathin Kural - it was recommended by the expert committee, not procured. But Agal Vilakku you found it fit enough to be procured! But not the Prime Minister's book, Manathin Kural,” remarked Justice Swaminathan today while addressing the State’s counsel.

The Court had yesterday ordered the registration of a first information report (FIR) in the matter as well as a freeze on the accounts of Agal Vilakku and its proprietor.

The issue drew public attention after writer Perumal Murugan raised concerns on social media about the alleged fraud, triggering widespread criticism.

Later concerns had also arisen about AI-generated content in books found at public libraries being falsely attributed to prominent figures, including economist Jean Drèze and Tamil poet Subramania Bharati. 

State Public Prosecutor John Sathyan today informed the Court of the status of an inquiry launched earlier this month by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC).

He added that the State was in the process of filing a “fully structured” FIR, which would be done in four days. 

“We will have a fully structured FIR, rather than going in for an omnibus one. Monday, we will report with a regular case number, before my Lords. This is all we want: four days' time. We are not going to spare if somebody is corrupt,” he assured the Court.

He further said that pursuant to directions issued by the Court yesterday, certain accounts containing about ₹22.2 lakhs were frozen by the authorities. 

Meanwhile, Director of Public Libraries, IAS officer RV Shajeevana, informed the Court that 1,700 of 2,237 recommended titles (one copy each) were procured from Agal Vilakku for the Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore at a cost of about ₹17 lakh. 

The Court, in turn, sought concrete information on who was responsible for recommending and selecting Agal Vilakku books for procurement to public libraries. 

Shajeevana told the Court that books are procured after a proposal for the same is approved by for committees. 

“You are saying Agal Vilakku passed all these four filters?” the Court asked.  

The Director and the State urged the Court to grant more time to examine the matter thoroughly before it implicated anyone. The Court, however, was not impressed by the slow progress of the State’s inquiries in the matter. 

“What really pains us is, though you have been given a full 24 hours, you have not been able to identify a single erring official? This is a confession of inefficiency,” Justice Swaminathan remarked.  

"We need to be cautious also. There may be some dissent notes. We have to see everything - who recommended, how these titles were included, ultimately who approved it, 24 hours may not be sufficient,” Additional Advocate General, representing the State, replied. 

The judge was also critical of the Director’s response that expert committees are usually responsible for the recommendation of procured books.  The Bench pointed out that Badri Seshadri, founder of publishing house Kizhakku Pathippagam, who was present through VC to assist the Court, had more faith in the expert committees than the Director of Public Libraries. 

“Mr. Badri, an outsider, is able to say that he may not be on the same page with them on many other issues, but they would not have recommended. But you are not giving the benefit of doubt to them, and you are saying the committee has done it, they have recommended, and we have procured,” it pointed out. 

Seshadri today told the Court that he simply blaming the committee does not appear to be the right approach. 

"Simply blaming the committee - that the committee could have approved it - it just doesn't work at all for me. I know many of them; I may not agree with their viewpoints, etc. They are all very respected scholars, people in the publishing field, as writers, as academicians, etc. It’s certainly not possible for any of these respected people (112 experts on a recommendation panel) to have recommended even one single book from this list," he said.

He added that the Agal Vilakku books may have been “inserted” by someone else, and that a proper inquiry is required to find out the truth.

“There is something very real that is being hidden here,” he remarked. 

He also told the Court that the amount stated to have been paid to Agal Villakku for the book procurement is “obscenely high”, and that anyone could have spotted something was wrong. 

“17 lakhs, is obscenely high for a single publisher…Over the last 22 years, we have published approximately 2,500 titles over 22 years. 162 of our titles we have supplied to the same Periyar Arivagam, amounting to approximately ₹23,980 or so,” he said. 

He added that such irregularities can be spotted easily if the Director of Public Libraries were to give information on aspects such has how many books were procured from publishers and the cost of such procurement over the last couple of years.

The Court proceeded to direct the Director of Public Libraries to file an affidavit by Monday with such information, taking into consideration the issues flagged by Seshadri.

Seshadri was also requested to file a written note to assist the Court.

“The story is not over,” Justice Swaminathan added, before concluding the hearing for the day.

The matter will be heard next on November 16, Monday.

[Read Live Coverage]