The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday directed the Centre and all state governments to disassociate from three experts involved in drafting a controversial chapter on the judiciary in an NCERT Class 8 social science textbook.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant also ordered the Union government to constitute a committee of domain experts within a week to finalise the curriculum for legal studies in Class 8 and higher classes.
The court was informed that the disputed chapter had been drafted by a textbook development team chaired by academic Michel Danino and comprising members Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar.
“...we have no reason to doubt that professor Michel Danino and his associates Suparna Diwakar 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 Indian judiciary before the students of class 8...,” the Bench observed.
The court said it saw no reason why the three individuals should be associated in any manner with the preparation or finalisation of textbooks for students in the future.
It directed the Centre, states, Union Territories, universities and public institutions receiving government funds to “disassociate three of them forthwith and not to assign any responsibility which incur fully or partially public funds”.
The Bench, which also included Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, said the Centre should set up an expert committee comprising a former senior judge, an eminent academic and a renowned legal practitioner.
Also read: NCERT row: SC says reply on 'revised' book chapters disturbing
The committee may also associate the National Judicial Academy for finalising the legal studies curriculum, the court said.
The court also expressed concern over an affidavit filed by NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani stating that the controversial chapter had already been rewritten.
The Bench ruled that even if the chapter has been revised, it must not be published unless approved by the newly constituted expert committee.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the Centre had already asked NCERT to review textbooks across all classes.
The court, however, noted that such academic material should not be finalised without proper scrutiny and said the issue pointed to the need for systemic reforms in the curriculum approval process.
Earlier, on February 26, the Supreme Court had imposed a blanket ban on further publication, reprinting or digital dissemination of the Class 8 social science textbook containing the controversial chapter on alleged corruption in the judiciary.
The court clarified that its order was not intended to prevent legitimate criticism of institutions but emphasised that educational material must be prepared responsibly and with due accuracy.
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