New Delhi [India], April 6 (ANI): The three academicians who formed part of the Textbook Development Team behind the controversial "Corruption in Judiciary" sub-chapter in the Class Eighth NCERT Social Science textbook informed the Supreme Court on Monday that they have filed their response (explanation) in compliance with the Court's earlier order.
Senior Advocates Gopal Sankarnarayanan, Aravind Datar and J. Sai Deepak, representing the three expert author-cum-academics - Suparna Diwakar, Michel Danino and Alok Prasanna Kumar, respectively - appeared before a bench led by CJI Surya Kant and requested that the court list those applications and take it up on the next hearing.
Sankarnarayanan requested that the Court examine their explanations, as its erstwhile observations to blacklist the three individuals from any academic-related work have caused major doubts on their credibility.
He further submitted that these academicians are experts in the field of pedagogy and even in textbooks of other Classes, below the eighth standards, academicians have inculcated subjects on issues faced by institutions aside from the judiciary.
"As per the New Education Policy (NEP), even the textbooks of Class 6-7 do deal with issues faced by the Legislature, the ECI and other institutions. Authors have a lot of street cred", the senior lawyer said.
Sai Deepak submitted that the sum and substance of the applications filed by the academicians is that the preparation and inclusion of the Sai topic was a collective decision and that no individual had any final say.
"This is a collective process and nobody had final authority", Sai Deepak said.
The Court was also informed that a three-member committee consisting of Justice Indu Malhotra, former Supreme Court judge, senior Advocate KK Venugopal and Prakash Singh, Vice-Chancellor of HNB Garhwal University, has been constituted. The Court also noted that the Committee has been tasked with working in coordination with the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, to finalise the legal studies curriculum for Class VIII and higher classes in line with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) framework.
The Courts today also noted that NCERT, through a notification dated April 2, has reconstituted a high-powered committee for preparing the national syllabus and teacher learning material in compliance with its earlier order. It was also informed today that the committee comprises twenty distinguished members.
Further, the Court clarified that the mandate of the committee should not be restricted solely to the Class VIII chapter in question, but must extend to examining all relevant aspects comprehensively.
On March 11, 2026, the Supreme Court had directed the Union government and all states and Union Territories to immediately disassociate from these three individuals for any academic exercises involving public funding. However, the Court had also clarified that these directions would be subject to the academicians filing their explanations.
The Court had also issued show cause notices to the Secretary of the Department of Education and Literacy (Ministry of Education) and to NCERT Director Dr Dinesh Prashad Saklani to show cause as to why suitable action either under Contempt or under any other law against those who have prepared the sub-chapter in the Class 8 NCERT book "Corruption in the judiciary".
Refusing to stall its suo moto proceedings, even after the NCERT had issued an apology with respect to the said selective inclusion of the said Chapter, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi had imposed a blanket ban on the Class 8 textbook in question.
It had been clarified that any attempt to circumvent or bypass this order will be treated as direct interference with the administration of justice and will amount to contempt of court.
The Court had also directed the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to place on record the details of the Teaching-Learning Materials Committee that approved the impugned chapter. The names, qualifications, and credentials of all members of the chapter development team are to be furnished before the Court.
(ANI)
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
