‘Entire book retracted’: NCERT publicly apologizes over judicial corruption chapter after SC criticism

New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research on Tuesday issued a public apology for publishing a chapter discussing “corruption” and “backlog” in the judiciary.“National Council of Educational Research and Training [NCERT] A recently published social science textbook ‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond’ for Class 8 (Part II) contains Chapter 4 titled ‘The Role of Judiciary in Our Society’,” NCERT said.“The Director and Members of NCERT hereby offer an unqualified and unqualified apology for the contents of Chapter 4 above. The entire book has been withdrawn and is not available,” it added.Earlier, the Supreme Court had condemned NCERT’s chapter discussing “corruption” and “backlog” in the judiciary, calling it a “deep-rooted and well-orchestrated conspiracy”.The apex court also issued a show-cause notice to the director of NCERT and the school education secretary, asking them to explain why action should not be taken against them over the content of the controversial textbooks.The Supreme Court also ordered the seizure of physical and digital copies of NCERT textbooks in circulation, which contain chapters on judicial “corruption”.A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi ordered: “NCERT, in coordination with the Union and state education departments, ensures that all copies of books (hard or soft) currently in circulation, whether stored in warehouses, retail stores or educational institutions, are seized and barred from public access. Compliance is archived.” Further, it said, “It is the personal responsibility of the Director, NCERT and the principal of every school to which the book reaches, to immediately seize and seal all copies of the book in their school premises and file a compliance report. Ensure that no directions are given on the basis of the subject book. Principals of all states are expected to comply.”