ON THURSDAY, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the National Council of Educational Research and Training (‘NCERT’) for its Class VIII social science textbook, in which it discussed corruption in the judiciary.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (‘CJI’) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi issued a show-cause notice to the Secretary (School Education) in the Ministry of Education and the chairperson of the NCERT, calling upon them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.
The Bench also imposed a blanket ban on any further publication and dissemination of the book. It warned that any attempt to circumvent the order through electronic media or alternative titles containing the same content would be treated as a direct interference in the administration of justice and thus as contempt of court.
The Bench further summoned the records pertaining to the approval of the chapter in question, along with the names of the members responsible for drafting it.
These directions were issued even as, the previous day, the NCERT had issued a press statement regretting its error of judgement and deciding to withdraw the book.
