NEW DELHI: At least one of the people involved in preparing a controversial chapter on the judiciary in the now-withdrawn Class 8 social science textbook holds law degrees from reputed institutions and served as a learned counsel for the Union of India in the Supreme Court, while the others have long been associated with academic work and curriculum development at national and state-level institutions.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that Professor Michele Danino, teacher Subarna Diwakar and legal scholar Alok Prasanna Kumar “did not have any reasonable knowledge about the Indian judiciary” or they “deliberately and intentionally misrepresented the facts in order to project a negative image of the Indian judiciary before Class VIII students who are of an impressionable age.”
While Danino and Kumar declined to comment, saying the matter was before the court, Diwakar said she preferred not to comment at the moment.
Below is a brief overview of the three members who were prevented by the Supreme Court from participating in the book’s development process:
Alok Prasanna Kumar: Kumar is the former co-founder of the Vidhi Center for Legal Policy, a Delhi-based independent think tank engaged in legal research. After obtaining his LLB from the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) at the University of Law, Hyderabad in 2008, he obtained a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) from the University of Oxford in 2009. He has also practiced in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court in the office of Mohan Parasaran, former Solicitor General of India.
Michelle Danino: He is the Chairman of the Curriculum Area Group (CAG) responsible for developing social science textbooks in NCERT. Born in France in 1956, Danino studied physics and engineering before moving to India in 1977, inspired by the Indian philosopher and yogi Sri Aurobindo. Since then he has been engaged in researching and writing about Indian civilization. Danino was awarded the Padma Shri in 2017 for his contributions to literature and education.
Subarna Diwakar: Diwakar is an educationist and currently works as a board member at School of Inspiring Leadership (SOIL), a business school in Gurugram. She is also the former founder of the Noida-based Indian School of Development Management (ISDM), which offers leadership programs for the social sector. According to her LinkedIn profile, she served as a principal advisor to the National Curriculum and Teaching Materials Committee of NCERT between July 2023 and January 2026. She was also involved in the design of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) between August 2022 and July 2023.
Officials at both NCERT and the union education ministry told HT that they “will abide by the court orders”, without commenting on whether any action would be taken against the three.
