The Supreme Court has taken a strong stance on the objectionable mentions related to corruption in the judiciary in the NCERT Class 8 Social Science book. On Thursday, a bench led by CJI Surya Kant termed it a deliberate conspiracy to defame the judiciary and directed to withdraw the book from the market. The next hearing will be held on March 11.
The Supreme Court has called for an investigation into this matter and a day before this had raised objection to a particular chapter of the book. The court had said that the court will not be allowed to be defamed, however, after the court’s objection, NCERT has decided to rewrite the book.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of NCERT in the Supreme Court, said that we apologize in this suo moto case. On this the CJI said that our friends in the media sent this notice and there is not a word of apology in it.
He said, ‘It is our institutional responsibility to find out whether it was published in the book or not. The concerned department was defending this in the message sent to the Registrar General. This was a deep conspiracy.
The Solicitor General told the court that action has been taken against the two people who prepared the chapter. They will never be able to work with UGC or any ministry.
After this the CJI said, ‘It will be very easy and they will escape. They opened fire and the judiciary is bleeding. Tushar Mehta told the court that 32 copies which had gone into the market have been taken back and the entire book will be reviewed.
On this the CJI commented that taking action against only two people is not enough. It would be too easy and they would get away. This is a ploy to discredit the entire judiciary. He also raised the question whether copies of the book are currently available in the market or online. That too should be taken back soon.
Senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi raised the issue before the bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant. Sibal said that it is worrying that Class 8 children are being taught about corruption in the judiciary. He said that being a member of the organization he is troubled by this.
Chief Justice Surya Kant said the framers of the Constitution have ensured balance and autonomy between the legislature, executive and judiciary. In such a situation, any material that hurts the reputation of any constitutional institution is very serious.
He said that if such things become ingrained in the minds of youth and parents, then trust in judicial institutions may decrease.
The court made it clear that a thorough investigation will be conducted into the matter and it will be found out who is responsible behind the publication of this material. At the same time, the Solicitor General assured that the disputed chapter will be removed and the revised version will be published again. The court reiterated that compromising the credibility of the judiciary will not be tolerated.
CBI gets success, fugitive Anil Kumar Reddy extradited from UAE!
Comments are closed.