The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre, states and Union Territories to exclude two academics and a legal expert associated with the NCERT from any academic exercise that involves public funding in the wake of the controversy over a chapter on “corruption in judiciary” in a Class VIII book.
The court also asked the Centre to identify the websites and individuals who posted negative comments on the judiciary in the aftermath of the controversy.
“We have no reason to doubt that Prof. Michel Danion and his associate Suparna Divakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar either do not have reasonable informed knowledge with respect to Indian judiciary and/or they deliberately and knowingly misrepresented the facts in order to project a negative image of the Indian judiciary before the students of Class VIII,” the court said.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi said in a written order: “There is no reason why such persons be associated in any manner with preparation of curriculum or finalisation of textbooks for the next generation.”
Danion and Divakar are professors, while Kumar is a legal expert.
The CJI also took strong exception to social media comments denigrating the judiciary after the bench issued notices to the NCERT director and others on February 26, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.
“…After the order dated 26 February was passed, some elements on social media have been active and reacting irresponsibly. We firmly believe in catching them by the horns. We accordingly direct the Government of India to identify such sites and the persons behind running the sites and the posts and further their details to enable us to take suitable action. The law must take its own course,” the CJI said.
During the hearing, the court said it was perturbed by the NCERT’s submission that it had already rewritten the syllabus for Class VIII.
“We direct that if at all chapter 4 of the subject textbook had been rewritten, the same shall not be published unless it is approved by a committee comprising domain experts,” the CJI said.
The court regretted that the trio, while drafting the controversial syllabus, failed to comply with the rules by forwarding it to the national syllabus and teaching material committee. It had instead forwarded a digital copy to a few members of the panel.
Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the NCERT, assured the bench that not only the syllabus for Class VIII but the curriculum for all other higher classes would be reviewed and rewritten with the help of domain experts.
On the controversial Class VIII book, Mehta told the bench that all 82,450 copies had been withdrawn from all over the country.
On February 26, the apex court had issued notices for initiating criminal contempt proceedings against the secretary in the department of school education and NCERT director Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani over the controversial chapter of the Class VIII social science book Exploring Society: India and Beyond. It had also imposed a nationwide ban on the publication, circulation or sale of the book, both in printed and soft copy formats.
Indicating that it meant business, the bench had also sought a comprehensive list and details about members of the national syllabus and teaching-learning material committee who approved the chapter. It also sought the names and credentials of members of the textbook development team responsible for drafting the chapter.
“As an abundant precaution, a complete blanket ban is hereby imposed on any further publication reprinting or digital dissemination of the book titled Exploring Society, India and Beyond. Any attempt to circumvent this order through electronic media or alternative titles, containing the same contents, shall be treated as a direct interference, wilful breach and defiance of the directions issued herein above,” the bench had ordered.