SC closes suo motu case over NCERT textbook chapter on judiciary

The Supreme Court concluded its suo motu investigation into the class 8 NCERT textbook chapter that dealt with corruption in the judiciary on Tuesday. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, learned that the chapter had been withdrawn and replaced following revisions suggested by an expert panel.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the textbooks with the updated chapter are currently in circulation. The court clarified that a statement made in its May 22 order, stating that the curriculum had not been presented to the committee at all levels, was merely a submission from Mehta and not an observation or decision of the court.

Mehta emphasized that he had not accused academicians of not presenting the curriculum to committees. The clarification came after senior advocate Arvind Datar, representing one of the academicians, argued that the court's observations could be misconstrued as a judicial finding, potentially causing harm to the academics. The Supreme Court had previously modified its March 11 order, directing the Central government, states, and others to distance themselves from three academicians involved in the drafting of the chapter due to controversy over its content on corruption in the judiciary.

The court also recalled a portion of the March 11 order that had labeled the three academicians, Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar, and Alok Prasanna Kumar, as having intentionally misrepresented facts to portray the judiciary negatively to students in class 8. The bench ruled while hearing an application filed by the three academics, who maintained that content creation is a collective process, not solely the responsibility of an individual.