BREAKING| Supreme Court Disturbed By NCERT Rewriting Chapter On Judicial Corruption; Bars Persons Involved From Curriculum Projects

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it was "disturbed" by the stand of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that the controversial chapter on judicial corruption in Class 8 Social Sciences Book has been "duly rewritten" and that the revised chapter will be incorporated in the textbooks for the 2026-27 academic year.

The Court was aghast to note that even after it expressed its strong objections to the chapter in the suo motu case, the NCERT has decided to include the chapter in a rewritten form.

The fact that the chapter has been rewritten was disclosed in the affidavit filed by the NCERT Director, Professor Dinesh Prasad Saklani, who was earlier issued a notice to show cause as to why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated. The Court was disappointed to note that the Director's affidavit did not disclose the "alleged domain experts" who had rewritten the chapter and approved its incorporation in the next curriculum.

Following the Court ventilating its objections, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta assured that the chapter will not be reprinted without the review by a high-level committee to be constituted by the Central Government.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi directed the Government of India to constitute a committee of experts, which preferably includes one former Judge, one academician and one renowned practitioner of law. Without the approval of the committee, the revised chapter should not be published.

"We direct that if at all chapter IV has been re-written, the same shall not be published unless it is approved by a committee of domain experts," the Court directed.

Court bars members involved in making the chapter from other Govt projects

The NCERT Director's affidavit further revealed that the controversial chapter was prepared under the supervision of a visiting professor Mr. Michel Danino. Ms Suparna Diwakar and Mr Alok Prasanna Kumar were also involved in the process. As per the process, the chapter had to be approved by the National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTMC). However, the chapter was only digitally circulated to some of the members of the NSTMC.

Observing that Mr. Michel Danino, Ms Suparna Diwakar and Mr Alok Prasanna Kumar do not have any reasonable knowledge about the judiciary, the Court directed that they should not be associated with any other project.

"At the outset, we have no reason to doubt that Professor Michel Danino, along with Ms Diwakar and Mr Alok Prasanna Kumar, either does not have reasonable knowledge about the Indian judiciary or they deliberately and knowingly misrepresented the facts in order to project a negative image of the Indian judiciary before students of class 8 who are at an impressionable age. There is no reason why such persons be associated in any manner with the preparation of curriculum or finalisation of textbooks for the next generation. We direct the Government of India and all states/UTs/Universities etc. to disassociate 3 of them forthwith and not to assign any responsibility which involves public funds. This order shall be subject to their approaching this court for modification with an explanation. "

The Court further directed that the Union must revisit the composition of NSTC, especially those to whom the offending chapter was shown. However, the Court clarified that it was not making any adverse comment on any such member.

Action ordered against social media posts

Expressing concern over irresponsible content circulating on media, the Supreme Court directed the Government of India to identify the websites involved and the persons operating them, and to furnish their complete details before the Court so that appropriate action can be taken. Observing that the law must take its course against “mischief-mongers”, the Court said it firmly believed in “catching the bull by the horns.” The Chief Justice of India added that the Court would not spare those responsible even if they were “hiding outside the country.”

At the same time, the Court clarified that it was not opposed to any legitimate criticism of the judiciary.

"We hasten to reiterate para 9 of our earlier order to state that interim directions or today's orders are not intended to prevent any healthy and legitimate criticism of the institutional functioning of the judiciary. If the judiciary, like any other institution, is suffering from deficiencies, and an expert committee highlights them, it would be a welcome step for future generations," the Court observed.

Courtroom exchange

As soon as the matter was taken, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta informed the Court that the NCERT has published a public apology for publishing the chapter and that the officers are present before the Court. The SG further stated that the NCERT has decided to review and revisit the chapters of all classes, and not just Class 8.

The Chief Justice observed that it would be better if the Centre itself constituted a high-level committee to revise the books. "Instead of leaving it to NCERT, we would have appreciated if Centre would have constituted some high-level committee," CJI Surya Kant said.

The CJI commented that the NCERT's affidavit showed that the curriculum was prepared in a very casual manner. "Also, this affidavit is eye-opening. Curriculum is issued without approval at any level! If this is the casual way, Mr SG, what do you expect from us?"

The bench also expressed unhappiness with a statement in the affidavit of NCERT Director that the chapter has been re-written, asking under whose approval it was re-written.

Justice Bagchi said, "You say it (chapter) has been re-written...who has re-written? Where is it? Para 15, NCERT director says that after this was flagged, chapter IV has been duly re-written. Who re-wrote? what are the present contents? This is the manner in which the deponent says...laconic statement".

The NCERT Director's affidavit stated : "That in light of the directions issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, vide Letter F. No. 15-5/2026-NCERT dated 27.02.2026 to NCERT, the concerned Chapter 4 of the subject textbook has been duly rewritten. It is further submitted that the revised chapter shall be incorporated in the forthcoming academic session 2026-27 and shall be used for classroom transactions in schools across all States and Union Territories: in accordance with the applicable curriculum and academic framework."

The Solicitor General then assured that the chapter will not go into the textbook until the high-level committee reviewed it.

It may be recalled that on February 26, 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, it said.

Further, the Court issued a 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. It prima facie observed that the publication of the book was a serious misconduct, which could come within the purview of criminal contempt of Court, if proved to be a deliberate act to scandalize the judiciary.

During the hearing, the CJI came down heavily on NCERT's publication of the textbook with references to "corruption in judiciary" and said that the Court will examine whether the public regret expressed by the NCERT (after the Court expressed its displeasure) was genuine or an attempt to wriggle out of criminal liability.

Yesterday, the NCERT issued a public apology for publishing the objectionable chapter. The press release tendered an "unconditional and unqualified apology" and stated: “The Director and Members of NCERT hereby tender an unconditional and unqualified apology for the said Chapter IV. The entire book has been withdrawn and is not available.”

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