Will not allow anybody to defame judiciary: Supreme Court slams NCERT for new class 8 book which claims "corruption in judiciary"

The Supreme Court on Wednesday strongly objected to portions of a new Class 8 Social Science textbook released by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that refer to “corruption in the judiciary.”

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said that the Court has taken a suo motu cognizance of the development.

"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," CJI Kant said.

Justice Joymalya Bagchi described it as an attack on the basic structure of the Constitution itself.

"The book seems to go against the basic structure itself," the judge said.

According to The Indian Express, the book has a section on “corruption in the judiciary” as part of a chapter on “The role of the judiciary in our society”.

The chapter lists “corruption at various levels of the judiciary” and “massive backlog of cases on account of multiple reasons, such as a lack of an adequate number of judges, complicated legal procedures, and poor infrastructure” among the “challenges” faced by the judicial system, as per the report.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal today apprised the Court about it.

"NCERT is teaching class 8 students about judicial corruption. This is a matter of grave concern. We are here for the bar," he said.

CJI Kant then revealed that cognizance has been taken.

"As head of the institution. I have done my duty and I have taken cognizance. This seems to be a calculated move. I won't say much," Justice Kant said.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi also criticized the NCERT.

“The selectivity my lord. The selectivity.. it is there in other areas also but judicial corruption!,” Singhvi submitted.

[Read Live Coverage]