The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the contents of Class 8 NCERT textbook referring to the corruption in the judiciary and termed it a matter of "grave concern."
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal that "children of class 8 are taught about corruption in the judiciary. This is a matter of grave concern."
The CJI said, "I will not allow anybody to defame the institution. Law will take its course." He added, "As head of the institution, I have done my duty and have taken cognisance … This seems to be a calculated move. I won't say much."
Justice Joymalya Bagchi described it as an attack on the basic structure of the Constitution itself.
"The book seems to go against the basic structure itself," the judge said.
The CJI said, "Please wait for a few days. Bar and Bench all are perturbed. All high court judges are perturbed. I will take up the matter suo motu. I will not allow anybody to defame the institution. Law will take its course." Later, Justice Kant said that the top court has taken suo motu cognisance of the matter.
According to media reports, the book has a section on “corruption in the judiciary” as part of a chapter on “The role of the judiciary in our society”.
Corruption, massive backlog of cases, and lack of an adequate number of judges are among the "challenges" faced by the judicial system, according to the new social science NCERT textbook for class 8.
The section "corruption in the judiciary" in the new book states that judges are bound by a code of conduct that governs not only their behaviour in court, but also how they conduct themselves outside it.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi also criticized the NCERT.
“The selectivity my lord. The selectivity.. it is there in other areas also but judicial corruption!,” Singhvi submitted.