|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
With the Supreme Court objecting to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) decision to introduce a chapter on “corruption in the judiciary” in its Class-8 Social Science text book, the Council on Wednesday (February 25) decided to put on hold the distribution of the book.
An NCERT press release said “the same shall be re-written, with consultation of the appropriate authority, as necessary, and would be made available to students of Class 8 accordingly on the commencement of academic session 2026-27.”
The Council said it “holds the judiciary in highest esteem and considers it to be the upholder of the Indian Constitution and protector of Fundamental Rights. The aforesaid error is purely unintentional and NCERT regrets the inclusion of inappropriate material in the said chapter.”
“NCERT reiterates that the objective of the new textbooks is to strengthen constitutional literacy, institutional respect, and informed understanding of democratic participation amongst students. There is no intent to question or diminish the authority of any constitutional body. As part of its continuous review process, NCERT remains open to constructive feedback,” the communication said.
The Council said it “regrets this error of judgement and apologises while re-iterating our resolve to continuously work for institutional sanctity and respect.”
On Wednesday, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had made evident his displeasure over the introduction of the section and said he “will not allow anyone on earth to play with the integrity and to defame the institution”.
He said, “It definitely concerns the entire institution. The Bar and Bench, and every stakeholder in the system is really perturbed after seeing this. I am getting lots of calls, lots of messages…all my brother, sister judges in High Courts, everybody is perturbed. Now that you have mentioned it, I’m therefore mentioning. I have already passed an order, I am taking the matter suo motu.”
Later on Wednesday, the SC registered a suo motu case “In Re: Social Science Textbook For Grade — 8 (Part — 2) Published By NCERT and Ancillary Issues” in the matter. A bench comprising the CJI, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi will hear it at 10.30 am today.
What the controversy is about?
The book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond’ Part 2, was released on February 23, 2026. The controversial portions appear in Chapter 4 of the book (pages 125-142) is on ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society’.
What it said under the head “corruption in the judiciary”?
(we have removed this portion which mentioned the contents of the book in deference to the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.)
