The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed suo motu proceedings over a controversial chapter in an NCERT Class 8 social science textbook dealing with corruption in the judiciary after being informed that the chapter had been withdrawn and replaced. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note that the revised chapter was based on recommendations made by an expert panel constituted by the Centre. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that textbooks containing the new chapter were already in circulation.
Court issues clarification
The bench also clarified that a statement recorded in its May 22 order — that the curriculum had not been placed before the committee at all levels and therefore could not be described as a collective decision — was merely a submission made by the Solicitor General and was neither an observation nor an order of the court. The clarification came after senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for one of the academicians involved in preparing the textbook, said that treating the statement as a judicial finding could prejudice them. Mehta also clarified that he had not accused the academicians of failing to place the curriculum before the committees.
Earlier order modified
The apex court had earlier modified its March 11 order directing the Centre, states and others to disassociate themselves from three academicians — Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar — over the chapter. After considering their explanations, the court left it to the Centre, states, Union Territories, public universities and government-funded institutions to independently decide on the issue without being influenced by its earlier observations.
The court had also recalled the portion of its March 11 order stating that the three academicians had “deliberately and knowingly” misrepresented facts to project a negative image of the judiciary before Class 8 students. The academicians maintained that preparation of the textbook was a collective process and no individual had sole control over its contents.
On February 26, the Supreme Court had imposed a blanket prohibition on further publication, reprinting or digital dissemination of the textbook containing the disputed material. It subsequently directed the Centre to constitute a committee of domain experts to finalise NCERT’s legal studies curriculum for Class 8 and higher classes.