The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Tuesday issued an unconditional public apology for including a chapter on judicial corruption in a recently published Class 8 social science textbook, and announced that the entire book has been withdrawn.
The textbook, Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Grade 8, Part 2), contained a chapter titled “The Role of Judiciary in our Society”, which mentioned issues such as corruption, a massive backlog of cases and an inadequate number of judges as challenges faced by the judicial system.
In a statement, NCERT said the director and members of the council “tender an unconditional and unqualified apology”. It added that the book has been completely withdrawn and is no longer available.
The controversy reached the Supreme Court after senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi mentioned the matter for urgent hearing.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, took suo motu cognisance of what it described as “objectionable” references to the judiciary in the textbook.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice strongly objected to the inclusion of references to judicial corruption in the school curriculum, stating that “nobody on earth will be allowed to defame the judiciary and taint its integrity.”
The Supreme Court subsequently imposed a complete ban on any further publication, reprinting or digital circulation of the textbook, observing that the content had caused damage to the institution.
Meanwhile, the Union government also expressed concern over the controversial chapter. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said accountability would be fixed and action taken against those responsible for drafting the section.
(With inputs from PTI)