Kozhikode: A defamation complaint which has been filed by Aswathy V Nair, daughter of renowned Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan Nair, against the authors and publisher of a recently released book about the legendary writer, alleges that the book portrays MT as "cruel and unfair" towards his first wife, Pramila Nair, and falsely claims that he suppressed her talents as a writer and restricted her cultural life. The complaint also alleges that the book falsely suggests MT continued such "haunting" even after their divorce.

The complaint, submitted before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-IV in Kozhikode, names authors Deedi Damodaran and Kala C (Echmukutty), along with publisher A Sreekumar of the book "EmPtY SpAcE: Bashpreekrithayude Aaramviral.”

Earlier, when the book was released in January, Aswathy and her sister Sithara had accused the authors of attempting to defame their father and demanded that the book be withdrawn from the market. However, the authors and publisher declined to withdraw the publication.

According to the authors, the book focuses on the life of Pramila Nair, the first wife of M T Vasudevan Nair. The daughters, however, contend that the contents are factually incorrect and contain blatant untruths.

The fresh complaint filed on Thursday states that the book is presented under the genre of gynocriticism, but alleges that it is actually a negative work aimed at defaming MT and his family as part of a "planned and premeditated scheme."

Pramila Nair passed away in 1999. The complaint questions why such allegations surfaced only after 26 years of her death and nearly 48 years after her legal separation from MT. It further alleges that the authors waited until after the writer's death to publish the book. Calling the book "a project to take vengeance and defame a deceased person and his family with malicious intent," the complaint also claims that the publication aims to sensationalise the issue and boost sales.

The complaint further addresses claims in the book regarding Pramila Nair's novel 'Nashtabodhangal', which was serialised in the magazine 'Malayalanadu' in 1978. According to the book's authors, the novel's publication was allegedly halted midway due to MT's influence. However, the complaint argues that this allegation is baseless.

It points out that Pramila Nair later published the story 'Madakkayathra' in the same magazine in July 1980, and that 'Nashtabodhangal' was released as a book in 1981, with Alhuda Books as the distributor. In 1992, she also published a short story collection titled' Gauthami Enna Penkutty'. These facts, the complaint argues, contradict the claim that her literary career was suppressed.

The complaint also notes that Pramila Nair herself never raised such allegations during her lifetime. It further objects to claims in the book that M T Vasudevan Nair controlled and dominated other writers and editors of his time, describing these statements as false.

According to the complaint, the authors attempted to gain "sadistic pleasure" by writing the book and defaming a writer who has become an important figure in literary history.

Judicial First-Class Magistrate Divya Natesan is scheduled to consider the petition for hearing on March 28.