New Delhi, Mar 10: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Tuesday issued a public apology for including a chapter on judicial corruption in a Class 8 social science textbook after the Supreme Court strongly objected to its contents, and announced that the entire book has been withdrawn.
The textbook, titled “Exploring Society: India and Beyond” Grade 8 (Part 2), contained Chapter 4 — “The Role of Judiciary in our Society” — which mentioned corruption, a massive backlog of cases and an inadequate number of judges as some of the challenges faced by the judicial system.
In a statement, the NCERT said the director and members of the council “tender an unconditional and unqualified apology” for the chapter. “The National Council of Educational Research and Training has recently published a social science textbook, ‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond’ Grade 8 (Part 2), which contained Chapter 4 titled ‘The Role of Judiciary in our Society’. The director and members of NCERT hereby tender an unconditional and unqualified apology for the said chapter four. The entire book has been withdrawn and is not available,” it said.
The Supreme Court had earlier taken strong exception to the contents of the chapter. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took suo motu cognisance of the issue after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, along with Abhishek Singhvi, mentioned the matter for urgent consideration.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Kant strongly objected to the reference to judicial corruption in the NCERT curriculum, stating that no one would be allowed to defame the judiciary or tarnish its integrity.
The court subsequently imposed a “complete blanket ban” on any further publication, reprinting or digital circulation of the Class 8 social science textbook, observing that it contained “offending” material about corruption in the judiciary. The bench remarked that a “gunshot has been fired and the institution is bleeding”.
Meanwhile, the government also expressed concern over the inclusion of the controversial content in the textbook. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said accountability would be fixed and action would be taken against those responsible for drafting the chapter. (Agencies)
