Following the Supreme Court’s displeasure, the sale of an NCERT book containing the chapter on “Judicial Corruption” has been banned. NCERT sources confirmed this to news agency ANI. PTI reported that the controversial portion may be removed from the NCERT book. According to sources, NCERT has convened an internal meeting of the experts who suggested the chapter and the officials who approved it. The book has also been removed from the website. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi raised the issue in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Sibal told the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Vipul M. Pancholi, and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that teaching Class 8 students about corruption in the judiciary is condemnable. Singhvi said that NCERT has assumed that corruption does not exist in politics, bureaucracy, and other institutions. CJI Surya Kant responded, “No one in the world will be allowed to defame the judiciary.” This appears to be a deliberate and deep-rooted conspiracy. I know how to deal with this. I will handle this case myself. We don’t want to say anything more about it. Government sources said, “All three organs of government should have been included.” NCERT Chairman Dinesh Prasad Saklani has not responded to this issue. A senior council official said that the matter is now sub judice, and therefore, they would not comment on the issue. Meanwhile, government sources said that even though NCERT is an autonomous body, officials should have carefully considered the inclusion of the chapter. Government sources said that if the issue of corruption was to be included, it should have included all three organs of government—the executive, the judiciary, and the legislature. Government sources said that data related to corruption in the judiciary exists in parliamentary records and the National Judicial Data Grid, but the central government was not consulted to cross-verify the facts. NCERT’s new social science textbook contained a chapter on “Justice delayed is justice denied.” On February 23rd, NCERT released a new social science textbook for Class 8 students. This book was to be taught in schools from the 2026-27 academic session. Its first part was released in July 2025. The book is titled “Exploring Society: India and Beyond Part 2.” The chapter, titled “Corruption in the Judiciary,” has been added to the chapter on “The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society.” It states that corruption, a large number of pending cases, and a severe shortage of judges are among the major challenges facing the judicial system. Judges are bound by a code of conduct that governs not only their behavior in court but also their conduct outside of court. One section of the book is titled “Justice delayed is justice denied.” This means that justice delayed is justice denied. The number of pending cases in the Supreme Court (81,000), in the High Courts (62,40,000), and in the District and Subordinate Courts (47 million) is also mentioned. The part of the book that mentions corruption and pending cases… Important points related to the judiciary in the new book… The book also mentions former CJI BR Gavai. The book also mentions former Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, who had said in July 2025 that cases of corruption and wrongdoing within the judiciary have a negative impact on public trust. He had said, “However, the way to rebuild this trust lies in swift, decisive, and transparent action taken to address these issues… Transparency and accountability are democratic virtues.” NCERT book not available on website NCERT Class 8 Social Science Part 2 was released this week. Following the CJI’s comment, this book is no longer available on the NCERT website. According to a news report, offline sales of books have also been discontinued from Tuesday, February 24th. However, no official statement has yet been issued by NCERT regarding this. NCERT has prepared new textbooks for all classes under the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and NEP-2020. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, new topics are being added to the textbooks, replacing existing topics. New textbooks for classes 1 to 8 have already been published in 2025. —————————— Read this news too… NCERT adds a section on the judiciary to the 8th grade social science textbook. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has decided to teach about corruption in the judiciary for the first time to 8th graders. This is a major change from the previous edition. Previous chapters focused mostly on the structure and role of the court. The changed chapter is titled “The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society.” Read the full story…
