The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the contents of a Class 8 NCERT social science textbook referring to “corruption in the judiciary,” terming the issue a matter of “grave concern.”
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi was apprised of the issue by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who submitted that “children of class 8 are taught about corruption in the judiciary” and called it a matter of serious concern.
The Chief Justice 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.”
The CJI further stated:
“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.”
Justice Bagchi observed that the contents of the book appeared to be “against the basic structure of the Constitution.”
Later, the Chief Justice confirmed that the Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the issue.
The new NCERT social science textbook for Class 8 lists corruption, massive backlog of cases, and lack of an adequate number of judges among the “challenges” faced by the judicial system.
The section titled “corruption in the judiciary” states that judges are bound by a code of conduct governing their behaviour both inside and outside the court.
The bench indicated that the Court will take up the matter suo motu and examine the issue.
