BREAKING| CJI Surya Kant Takes Objection To NCERT Class 8 Book Chapter On 'Corruption In Judiciary'

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday took serious objection to the new NCERT Class 8 book containing portions regarding "corruption in judiciary."

CJI said that he will not allow anyone to defame or denigrate the institution and will take appropriate action.

Yesterday, the Indian Express had reported that the new NCERT Class 8 book on social sciences cited "corruption in judiciary" and "massive backlogs" as major challenges.

Today, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, accompanied by Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, mentioned the issue before the CJI. "We are deeply disturbed as the members of this institution to find that children of Class 8 students are being taught about corruption in judiciary. It is part of the NCERT. We have great stake in the institution; it is entirely scandalous. We have the copies of the book," Sibal said.

The CJI said that he is aware of the issue, and he received various calls and messages regarding this. He added that many judges were "perturbed" by the contents of the book.

"I can assure all of you. I am fully aware of it," CJI said.

When Sibal said that he hoped the Court would take suo motu notice of the matter, CJI replied, "Wait for a day. This is definitely concerning the entire institution. The bar and the bench are perturbed. Every stakeholder in the system is really perturbed, I am receiving lot of calls and messages. There are judges of High Courts who are perturbed. Since you have mentioned, I am informing you, I have already passed an order and am taking the matter suo motu. I will not allow anyone on earth to taint the integrity of the institution and defame the institution. At any cost, I will not permit it. Whosoever high it may be, the law will take its course. I know how to deal with it," CJI said.

Singhvi said that the more than the content itself, the selectivity of the issue was concerning, as if there was no corruption elsewhere. There was not a word about corruption in bureaucracy, politics, public life and other institutions, he said.

"It seems to be a very calculated and deep-rooted measure to...we don't want to say anything more...I am aware and I have done my duty,"CJI said. CJI thanked Sibal and Singhvi for bringing the issue to his attention.

Justice Bagchi said that "Constitutional integrity to the basic structure is missing in the structure of the book."