New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI): The Congress on Thursday said the Supreme Court is rightly agitated over critical references to the judiciary in NCERT textbooks and claimed that the rewriting of such books over the past decade has been an RSS-driven exercise full of "mischief and malice".

The opposition party's assertion came after the Supreme Court on Thursday imposed a "complete blanket ban" on the Class 8 NCERT book with a chapter on corruption in the judiciary and ordered that all copies, physical and digital, be seized.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The Supreme Court is rightly agitated over critical references to the judiciary in NCERT textbooks."

"Actually, the way NCERT textbooks have been rewritten over the past decade is disgraceful, apart from being dangerous as well. It has been a RSS-driven exercise full of mischief and malice. It is this racket that needs to be investigated," he said.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also issued show cause notices to the NCERT director and the secretary of the department of school education and asked them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against those responsible.

The bench had taken suo motu cognisance of the "objectionable" statements about the judiciary in the new textbook after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, alongside Abhishek Singhvi, mentioned the matter for urgent consideration.

The NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) social science textbook for Class 8 says corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and the lack of an adequate number of judges are among the challenges faced by the judicial system.

After stern words by the Supreme Court that it will not allow "anyone on earth" to tarnish the judiciary's integrity, the NCERT pulled the textbook from its website, with sources saying the government was livid with the controversial references in the curriculum.

The NCERT on Wednesday also apologised for "inappropriate content" after facing the Supreme Court's ire over the chapter and said the book concerned will be rewritten in consultation with appropriate authorities.

(PTI)

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.