The Supreme Court of India has issued a show cause notice to Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Secretary, Department of Education and Literacy (Ministry of Education) and Director of NCERT, seeking his explanation as to why action should not be taken against him under contempt or other laws for including a sub-chapter titled “Corruption in the Judiciary” in the Class 8 NCERT Social Science textbook.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi refused to stay the proceedings taking suo motu cognizance despite NCERT’s apology over the inclusion of the controversial topic and imposed a complete ban on that part of the textbook.
The court warned that any attempt to violate the order would amount to direct interference in the administration of justice and could attract contempt of court.
The Supreme Court has also directed NCERT to submit detailed records of the teaching-learning material committee that approved the chapter, including names, qualifications and certificates of all members of the development team.
The Chief Justice said, “They have opened fire and today the judiciary is soaked in blood. Today anyone can say anything. At times the attacks on us intensify and we are aware of it. The material is available online, on the internet and even in shops. This is a calculated move, the entire education system will be directed at.”
He said, “When you see how the Indian judiciary is being portrayed as corrupt, it becomes clear what message is being sent. The entire teaching community will first be instructed that this is what they have to teach. In fact, no section of the society has been left untouched by this. This is a deep-rooted, well-planned and organized conspiracy.”
Earlier, NCERT had issued an apology saying it would review and amend the chapter after proper consultation, accepting that the mention of corruption was inappropriate.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday initiated suo motu proceedings regarding the inclusion of a section related to “corruption in the judiciary” in NCERT’s new Class 8 (VIII) social science textbook, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asserting that the institution will not be allowed to be brought into disrepute.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) also issued an apology and withdrew the distribution of its newly published Class 8 social science textbook after it was found to have “inappropriate textual content and error of judgment” in a chapter on the judiciary.
