Supreme Court Closes Proceedings Over Controversial NCERT Textbook Chapter on Judicial Corruption
The Supreme Court has closed its suo motu proceedings over the controversial reference to “corruption in the judiciary” in an NCERT Class 8 Social Science textbook, after being informed that the disputed chapter has been withdrawn and replaced.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana passed the order on Tuesday after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that textbooks containing the revised chapter were already in circulation.
The controversy involved NCERT’s Class 8 Social Science textbook Exploring Society: India and Beyond. A section in the chapter titled “The Role of Judiciary in Our Society” referred to corruption within the judiciary and discussed issues including judicial pendency and accountability.
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter in February after the contents triggered concern over how the judiciary was being portrayed to schoolchildren.
At that stage, the Court had ordered an immediate nationwide withdrawal of the textbook and imposed restrictions on its publication, reprinting and digital dissemination. It had also sought explanations from senior education officials.
NCERT subsequently withdrew the book and tendered an unconditional public apology. The Centre also constituted an expert panel to review the disputed material and recommend revisions.
The revised version has now replaced the controversial chapter, and the new textbooks have entered circulation. The Supreme Court therefore concluded that no further proceedings were necessary and closed the case along with all consequential action.
The Court also made an important clarification while disposing of the matter. It said that a statement recorded in an earlier order concerning the curriculum approval process was actually a submission made by the Solicitor General and was not a finding, observation or direction of the Court.
This clarification is significant because earlier proceedings had raised questions about whether the textbook material had passed through all the required institutional levels of scrutiny.
The controversy had also led to strong judicial observations about the responsibility involved in preparing educational material for children. The Court had previously stressed that legitimate criticism of the judiciary could not be suppressed, while objecting to what it considered inappropriate material in the particular textbook.
During the proceedings, the government assured the Court that systemic changes would be introduced in NCERT’s textbook-review process. The Centre said educational material would undergo scrutiny by independent domain experts before publication.
With the disputed chapter now withdrawn and revised textbooks in circulation, the Supreme Court has brought the litigation to an end.
The case nevertheless leaves a wider question for the education system: how to balance legitimate teaching about institutional shortcomings, including judicial delays and accountability, with accuracy, neutrality and age-appropriate presentation in school textbooks.
