The Supreme Court on Thursday issued show-cause notices to the Union school education secretary and the NCERT director for initiating criminal contempt proceedings against them over the inclusion of a section on “Corruption in Judiciary” in a Class VIII textbook.
The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi banned nationwide the publication, circulation or sale — in either printed or electronic form — of the book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond.
It asked NCERT director D.P. Saklani for the names and details of members of the National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee, who approved the contentious portion, and the textbook development team that drafted it.
Saklani must also submit, at the next hearing on March 11, the original records of the minutes of all the meetings where the section was discussed and finalised.
The bench rejected an apology that the NCERT had tendered via the Union education ministry through a media release.
It said it would “consider at an appropriate stage” whether the apology had been offered “genuinely with a view to purging the prima facie contempt, or whether it is merely a ruse to evade the consequences, particularly when substantial irreversible damage has already been done….”
The bench underlined what it clearly deemed a show of defiance by Saklani when, on the court’s instructions, the Supreme Court secretary-general had sought to know whether the NCERT had indeed released such a publication.
“Instead of displaying any introspection about what had been written in the book in a reckless, irresponsible, contemptuous, and motivated manner, the director responded in writing, defending the contents of the book,” the bench said.
It said a prima facie examination of the book’s contents, when read with the NCERT director’s administrative response, “reveals a discernible underlying agenda to undermine the institutional authority and demean the dignity of the judiciary”.
“This would, if allowed to go unchecked, erode the sanctity of the judicial office in the estimation of the public at large and, more importantly, within the impressionable minds of the youth,” it said.
“Given these serious consequences and the everlasting impact it may have on the independence and autonomy of judiciary, such a misconduct would fall within the definition of ‘criminal contempt’....”
Some of the key directives issued by the bench:
n The NCERT must in coordination with the Centre and state education departments ensure that all copies of the book, hard or soft — whether in circulation, storage, retail outlets or educational institutions — are seized and removed from public access.
The principal secretaries of education in every state and Union Territory must submit compliance reports within two weeks.
n It would be the personal responsibility of the NCERT director and the principal of every school where the book has been circulated or prescribed to (a) seize and seal all physical and digital copies within their premises and submit a compliance report; and (b) ensure that no teaching is imparted based on the contentious chapter.
Chapter 4 in the textbook, published this month, is titled “The Role of the Judiciary in our Society”, and incorporates the section on “Corruption in the Judiciary”.
The apex court had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter after senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi brought it to its attention on Wednesday.
Dharmendra regret
Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said those responsible for writing the chapter that carried content on “corruption in the judiciary” would face action.
“We respect the judiciary. Whatever the judiciary has said, we will comply with it. I am sad because of whatever happened. I express regret over this. When this matter came to my notice, I directed the NCERT to withdraw all the books. It was not the government’s objective to disregard the judiciary. We have taken up the issue with seriousness. It will be inquired into. Action will be taken against those who are responsible for preparing the chapter. I assure the judiciary that such incidents will not recur in future,” the minister said.