Key facts
- The Madras High Court ordered Tamil Nadu's anti-corruption agency to investigate book purchases and freeze accounts linked to a publisher.
- Novelist Perumal Murugan alleged nearly 1,800 books in the library's Tamil section came from little-known publisher Agal Vilakku Pathippagam.
- School Education Minister A Rajmohan said 523 books were removed from the Connemara Public Library in Chennai after preliminary checks.
- More than 160 writers, researchers, artists and publishers signed a statement seeking an independent inquiry and procurement records.
- Economist Jean Drèze told The Hindu he had not written a book attributed to him, Democracy and People's Rights in the Contemporary World.
- It remains unclear whether AI was used to produce any of the disputed books.
The Madras High Court ordered Tamil Nadu's anti-corruption agency to investigate allegations that the Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore bought hundreds of books suspected of being generated using AI, and to freeze bank accounts linked to a publisher accused of supplying them, BBC Tamil reported on November 11, 2026.
The controversy began after Tamil novelist Perumal Murugan raised concerns about books containing false information and questionable authorship at the library, which was built at a cost of about 3 billion rupees ($34 million) and inaugurated on October 16 by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. Writing in an online magazine, Murugan alleged that nearly 1,800 books in its Tamil section had been supplied by a little-known publisher called Agal Vilakku Pathippagam, and that many carried unfamiliar authors' names, unusually high prices and questionable International Standard Book Numbers.
One book cited, Naladiyar Vaazhvin Vazhikatti (A Guide to Life through Naladiyar), was reportedly priced at 1,445 rupees for 300 pages and describes Naladiyar as a Tamil poet and philosopher, although Naladiyar is a classical Tamil work of 400 four-line verses on morality and ethics. Another reportedly attributes the ancient Tamil poem Madurai Kanchi to an incorrect author. It remains unclear whether AI was used to produce any of the disputed books.
Questions were also raised about a book at another public library in Madurai, Democracy and People's Rights in the Contemporary World, which names economist Jean Drèze as its author and was published by Phoenix Publishing House. Drèze did not respond to BBC Tamil's request for comment but told The Hindu newspaper earlier this week that he had not written the book.
BBC Tamil visited a Chennai address listed by Agal Vilakku and Phoenix Publishing House but found no signs identifying either business. A woman at the address confirmed Agal Vilakku operated there, and its proprietor, Mohan, declined to comment, saying the matter was before the courts.
More than 160 writers, researchers, artists and publishers signed a joint statement calling for an independent inquiry, the release of procurement records and an audit of library collections across Tamil Nadu, and for recovery of public money if misuse is found. The state government has ordered an internal audit of public library collections. Rajmohan said 523 books had already been removed from the Connemara Public Library in Chennai after preliminary checks, and disputed books have also been removed from Periyar Arivulagam.
The state government has blamed the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party-led administration for buying the books. Rajmohan described the allegations as potentially "India's first AI scam" and said the investigation would cover purchases at other public libraries across the state. The DMK denies the allegations, calling them politically motivated, and has called for an investigation into the purchases.