Former AG Venugopal, Ex-SC Judges Malhotra, Bose to Redraft NCERT Chapter on Judiciary
The Supreme Court of India has greenlit the formation of a high-powered expert committee tasked with redrafting a contentious chapter on the judiciary in the NCERT Class 8 Social Science textbook. This panel will include former Attorney General KK Venugopal, former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra, and National Judicial Academy Director and former Supreme Court judge Aniruddha Bose.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and VM Pancholi, that apart from these three legal luminaries, one Vice-Chancellor will also join the committee. This development came during the hearing of a fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Dr. Pankaj Pushkar, which highlighted a remark in the textbook stating, "Recent judgments tend to view the slum dweller as an encroacher in the city."
Background of the Controversy
The textbook in question, titled 'Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Class 8, Vol. 2)', contained a section on "Corruption in the judiciary" within a chapter discussing "The role of the judiciary in our society." The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of this content on February 25, 2026, labeling it a "calculated move" and a "deep-rooted conspiracy to malign the Judiciary." On February 26, the court imposed a blanket ban on the book, ordering the seizure of all physical copies and the immediate takedown of digital versions.
The Bench had directed the NCERT, in coordination with Union and State Education Departments, to ensure all copies—whether in storage, retail outlets, or educational institutions—were removed from public access. Rejecting an apology from NCERT, the court issued contempt notices to the Secretary of School Education and NCERT Director Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani, demanding explanations for the inclusion of the offending chapter.
Court Directives and Committee Formation
On March 11, the Supreme Court mandated the Centre to constitute a committee comprising a retired judge, a renowned academician, and a renowned lawyer within a week to finalize the curriculum related to legal studies in NCERT textbooks. The court emphasized that the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal should be consulted for content preparation.
Additionally, the court debarred three experts—Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar, and Alok Prasanna Kumar—who were involved in preparing the controversial chapter, from participating in other curriculum projects. Last week, the court expressed dissatisfaction upon learning that NCERT planned to reintroduce a rewritten version of the chapter in the upcoming academic session. The Bench directed that any rewritten chapter must undergo review by the newly formed expert committee before incorporation into the syllabus.
During the recent hearing, the court noted that the issue had become infructuous since the textbook is being replaced, and subsequently disposed of the petition. The expert committee is now set to oversee the redrafting process, ensuring alignment with legal standards and educational integrity.
