BREAKING| Supreme Court Bans NCERT Textbook With Chapter On Judicial Corruption, Issues Contempt Notice To NCERT Director & Ministry Official

Coming down heavily on the NCERT's publication of Class 8 social science textbook chapter with references to "corruption in judiciary", the Supreme Court on Thursday issued show-cause notice to the Secretary of School Education, Ministry of Education and the NCERT Director, as to why action under the Contempt of Courts Act or any other law should not be taken against them.

The Court prima facie observed that the publication of the book is a serious misconduct, which can come within the purview of criminal contempt of court, if proved to be a deliberate act to scandalise the judiciary. 

The Court said that it will examine whether the public regret expressed by the NCERT is genuine or an attempt to wriggle out of criminal liability.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi passed the order in the suo motu case taken over the book. 

Bans the book, orders seizure of all physical copies and takedown of soft copies

The Court issued a complete ban on the publication, re-printing and digital dissemination of the book containing the inappropriate content. Any sharing of the content, in any form, will be taken seriously. 

The physical copies of the books were ordered to be seized. "The NCERT in coordination with the Union and State Education Depts is directed to ensure that all copies of the book (hard or soft) currently in circulation, whether held in storage, retail outlets, or educational institutions, are seized and removed from public access. Compliance be filed."

The Court directed that no instruction should be imparted to students based on the book.

"It shall be personal responsibility of NCERT Director and the principal of every school where the book has reached to effectuate immediate seizure and sealing of all copies of the book in their premises and submit a compliance report. Ensure that no instruction is imparted based on the subject book. Principal Secretaries of all states are to comply. Compliance to be sent within 2 weeks."

It further directed :

"As an abundant precaution, a complete blanket ban is hereby imposed on any further publication, reprinting or digital dissemination of the book. Any attempt to circumvent this order through electronic means or altered titles shall be seen as direct interference, willful breach and defiance of directions."

NCERT directed to give the names of persons who were involved in preparing the chapter

The Court directed the NCERT Director to submit the names of the persons involved in preparing the offending chapter. The specific names and credentials shall be furnished. The original minutes of meetings of the part wherein the offending chapter was deliberated and finalised shall be produced on the next date of hearing.

NCERT Director's reply contemptuous; Calculated attempt to undermine judiciary

The bench noted that the chapter referred to the number of complaints received against judges, giving the impression that no action was taken. The bench also observed that the comments made by former Chief Justice of India BR Gavai were taken out of context to give an impression that the CJI himself had acknowledged the existence of corruption.

The bench also expressed its unhappiness with the NCERT Director for writing a letter to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court justifying the contents of the book. The bench observed that the NCERT Director's reply was "contemptuous and reckless."

The bench observed that there appeared to be a "calculated move to undermine the institutional authority and demean dignity of the institution" and said that if it was allowed to be published unchecked, it erode the stature of the judiciary in the public esteem, especially in the minds of impressionable young minds. The book's reach will not be confined to school children, and it will reach their parents and wider society, and may even reach the next generation.

The bench further noted that the chapter had no reference to the illustrious steps taken by the judiciary and the contribution it made to strengthening the democratic fabric. "The silence is particularly egregious given the sheer volume of high-ranking officials who have been censured by this Court for corrupt practices, siphoning of public funds. It seems to us that the choice of words and expressions in the book may not be a simplictor inadvertence or bona fide error. We may however hasten to add that we do not propose to initiate the suo motu proceedings to stifle any legitimate criticism or to stop any individual from exercising the right to scrutinise public institutions, including the judiciary," the bench observed.

Court room hearing

As soon as the proceedings started, Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, informed the Court today that the NCERT has withdrawn the Class 8 Social Science textbook chapter containing references to corruption in the judiciary. SG said that the NCERT has apologised for the error.

However, CJI Surya Kant said that the press release issued by the NCERT does not have a "single word of apology". CJI also said that when he earlier asked the Secretary General of the Supreme Court to inquire about the newspaper report, the NCERT, in response, defended the chapter.

SG assured that the individuals who defended the chapter will not be associated with the NCERT or any other ministry in future. "That's very little consequence. They fired gunshot, judiciary is bleeding today," CJI said. SG assured that the chapter would be republished and "I will vet it." 

SG said that only 32 books went to the market, and they will be retrieved. SG also said that there was another problematic chapter titled "justice delayed is justice denied" with inaccurate figures about backlogs. "We cannot teach our children that justice is denied in the country," SG said.

CJI said that the move was a "deep-rooted, well-orchestrated conspiracy" to malign the judiciary. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal submitted that the soft-copies of the chapter in PDF format are getting widely circulated on social media. Justice Bagchi said that the Centre should issue directions to take down the copies from the internet.

CJI said that there was a need to find out the persons responsible for the publication and fix accountability. "As the head of the institution, I must find out who the persons who are responsible behind it. Heads must roll, I am not going to close these proceedings," CJI said.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Senior Advocate Manan Kumar Mishra, BCI Chairperson, also appeared in the matter, supporting the judicial intervention.

Background

To recap, on February 24, some media reports published that the new NCERT social science text book for Class 8 listed 'corruption in judiciary' and case backlogs as major challenges. Yesterday morning, Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Dr AM Singhvi orally mentioned their concerns over the textbook content before the CJI bench, saying that it was scandalizing the entire judiciary.

In response, the CJI said that he was aware of the issue and many judges were perturbed by the developments. "I will not allow anyone on the earth to taint the integrity and defame the entire institution," CJI remarked, revealing that he had passed orders to take suo motu action. The CJI further commented that the move appeared to be a "calculated measure".

After he expressed his displeasure, NCERT reportedly withdrew the book and issued the following statement: “As part of its continuous review process, NCERT remains open to constructive feedback. And hence, the same shall be rewritten, with consultation of the appropriate authority, as necessary, and would be available to students of class 8 accordingly on the commencement of the academic session 2026-27."

The statement further acknowledged that the content in the chapter was "inappropriate" and explained that the "error of judgment" was unintentional.

Case Title: In Re : Social Science Textbook for Grade-8(Part 2) published by NCERT and ancillary issues | SMW (C) 1/2026