NCERT Withdraws New Class 8 Social Science Textbook After CJI Criticises Section On 'Corruption In Judiciary'
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has stopped the sale of its new Class 8 Social Science textbook after the Supreme Court Bar and Bench criticised the section on ‘corruption in judiciary’.
As per the reports, the Education Ministry has directed the withdrawal of the sale of the New NCERT textbook. The book is also no longer available at the publication division book counter at the NCERT campus in Delhi.
The matter was raised in the Supreme Court on Wednesday by senior advocates A M Singhvi and Kapil Sibal. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant took serious exception to the section in question and said he will not allow anyone to defame the institution. The apex court has registered a suo motu case in the matter.
In a statement issued late Wednesday, NCERT expressed regret for the inclusion of inappropriate material in the textbook and said it would rewrite the portions. It also said that the ‘error’ was ‘purely unintentional’, and it holds the judiciary in the ‘highest esteem’, and there was ‘no intent’ to diminish the authority of the constitutional body.
The educational body said that NCERT remains open to constructive feedback and hence confirmed to rewrite the book with consultation of the appropriate authority, as necessary, and would be available to students of class 8 accordingly on the commencement of the academic session 2026-27.
It stated that certain inappropriate textual material and errors of judgment have inadvertently crept into Chapter No. 4 entitled, ‘The Role of the Judiciary in our Society’.
The Department of School Education and Literacy (Ministry of Education) made a similar observation and directed to keep a strict hold on book distribution until further orders.
Notably, the book, ‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond’, Part 2, was released on Monday. The Chapter on ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society’ carried a section on Challenges faced by the judicial system, listing corruption and massive backlog among them.
The section stated that the judiciary received over 1,600 complaints between 2017 and 2021 through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).
NCERT stated that the objective of new textbooks is to strengthen constitutional literacy, institutional respect, and create informed citizenship among students.
