After the Supreme Court raised objection over portions related to judicial corruption in CBSE Class 8 textbooks, NCERT may remove the chapter, a report cited sources on Wednesday.
The National Council for Educational Research and Training has already pulled the new social sciences textbook from its website.
This came after a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the “unobjectionable” statements regarding judicial authority in NCERT textbooks. According to sources quoted by news agency PTI, the government has not taken kindly to the matter, and the controversial parts of the books may be removed.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, took up the matter after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, along with Abhishek Singhvi, referred the matter for urgent consideration.
The Law Ministry was not consulted, CJI Gavai is “unhappy” that his quote was used
The textbook allegedly used data on backlog of cases and lack of sufficient number of judges, and even cited an earlier quote of CJI BR Gavai to highlight its point of “judicial corruption”. But government sources said that data on corruption in the judiciary is available in parliamentary records and the National Judicial Data Network.
However, they said that the Union Law Ministry was not consulted to verify the facts, PTI reported. Moreover, according to sources cited by PTI, Gavai’s quote was allegedly taken out of the context of the book, and the former CJI is learned to be unhappy with it.
Gavai said in July 2025 that instances of corruption and misconduct in the judiciary had a negative impact on public confidence. “However, the way to rebuild this trust lies in the rapid, decisive and transparent actions taken to address and resolve these issues… Transparency and accountability are democratic virtues,” he was quoted as saying in the book.
CJI’s strong objection, NCERT calls meet
Kant raised a strong objection to the chapter on “judicial corruption,” while saying that no one could be allowed to defame the judiciary and damage its integrity.
After the SC took cognizance of the matter, NCERT reportedly called an internal meeting to review the recommendations made by the subject matter experts who participated in the class as well as those who approved it, according to PTI.
Although NCERT is an independent body, those responsible for adding the classes should have thought about the matter, government sources said. They said that if the issue of corruption has to be included, it should be linked to three organs – the executive, the judiciary and the legislature, PTI reported.
