WHEN THE SUPREME COURT assembled on Wednesday to take up the suo motu matter concerning the NCERT's Class 8 Social Science textbook, the hearing entailed three distinct developments. First, a set of concrete, consequential directions against the individuals who prepared the offending chapter; second, an order that the rewritten chapter must be vetted by an expert committee before it sees the inside of any classroom; and third, a series of remarks from the bench about social media critics that are likely to generate debate of their own.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi, and Vipul M. Pancholi was examining the compliance affidavit filed by NCERT Director Professor Dinesh Prasad Saklani, who had earlier received a show-cause notice for potential criminal contempt. The affidavit, rather than settling the Court's concerns, appears to have deepened them.
