SC Orders Expert Panel To Review Legal Studies in NCERT Books
An expert committee to review curriculum after a row over Class 8 textbook content.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to constitute a committee of domain experts within a week to finalise the curriculum related to legal studies in NCERT textbooks, including those for Class 8 and higher classes.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, passed the order while hearing a case concerning allegedly objectionable content on corruption in the judiciary in an NCERT Class 8 social science textbook.
The court said that if Chapter 4 of the textbook has been rewritten, it should not be published unless approved by a committee comprising domain experts.
The panel is to include a former judge, an academician and a noted law practitioner. The court also directed the Centre to associate the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, in finalising the legal studies curriculum.
The Bench further directed the Centre and all state governments to dissociate from the three experts involved in drafting the controversial chapter, Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar.
The court said it saw no reason why the three should continue to be associated with the preparation of curricula or textbooks funded fully or partly by public funds. However, it allowed them to approach the court seeking modification of the order along with an explanation.
The court also asked the Centre to revisit the composition of the National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC), particularly those with whom the chapter was shared digitally.
Expressing concern over reactions on social media following its earlier order dated February 26, the court directed the Union government to identify websites and persons responsible for circulating content related to the matter and provide details to enable appropriate legal action.
The Bench said its observations should not be construed as preventing healthy and legitimate criticism of the functioning of the judiciary.
It noted that NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani had filed an affidavit tendering an unconditional apology on behalf of the organisation for the inclusion of the chapter. The Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy in the Union Ministry of Education also filed a similar affidavit.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the Centre had already directed NCERT to review textbooks of all classes.
The court had earlier, on February 26, imposed a complete ban on further publication, reprinting or digital dissemination of the Class 8 social science textbook containing the disputed content.
