New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday vowed to take action against those who mention judicial corruption in NCERT textbooks, amid signs that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unhappy with what he considers serious lapses.It is understood that Modi mentioned the issue of corruption in the judiciary in the new NCERT textbook for class 8 social sciences, which deals with issues faced by judicial administration. “What are we teaching children in Class VIII about judicial corruption?” sources quoted the prime minister as saying at a federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday.As NCERT scrambles to contain the fallout from the Supreme Court’s outrage over the issue, pulling the e-copy of the book from its website and figuring out how to get back the 32 hard copies it has sold, Pradhan offered an unconditional apology.He reiterated respect for the judiciary while pledging to hold accountable and take action against those who drafted the controversial chapters. The question focuses on Chapter 4 – “Role of Judiciary in Our Society” in the new social science textbook (Part 2) launched by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The chapter, edited by Michel Danino and Alok Prasanna, lists corruption, high numbers of pending cases and a shortage of judges as challenges facing the justice system. The controversy escalated on Thursday with the Supreme Court finding what appeared to be a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” to defame the judiciary and imposing a “blanket ban” on NCERT books, ordering the seizure of all physical and digital copies.Meanwhile, NCERT said when asked that the electronic version of the textbook “has not been uploaded online”.“Before the publication was discontinued, 32 physical copies had been sold” – a figure also cited by the Attorney General in court.When asked about how the books sold have been tracked and recalled, a senior NCERT official said, “Since all the books are sold through the NCERT warehouse, they are tracked and most of them have been recalled.” The chapter will now be rewritten in consultation with the authorities concerned and made available in the academic session 2026-27.Regarding the Supreme Court opinion, Pradhan said he was “deeply saddened by what happened and stressed that there was no intention to insult the judiciary”, adding that “an investigation will be conducted to identify those responsible”. He added that the issuance of textbooks will be suspended immediately once the issue comes to light and the government will fully comply with the Supreme Court’s directives.NCERT pulled the textbook from its website after the SC sternly said it would not allow “anyone on earth” to taint the administration of justice. The board apologized on Wednesday for “inappropriate content” and said it would rewrite the chapter in consultation with relevant authorities before re-publishing it, although officials said it was reviewing stricter censorship mechanisms for future textbooks.
