SC closes NCERT textbook case, says criticism must be informed, not uninformed assertion

The Supreme Court has closed suo motu proceedings related to a Class 8 NCERT social science textbook chapter that referred to corruption in the judiciary, while clarifying that the institution welcomes fair and informed criticism.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana observed that the judiciary is not averse to criticism, which is a legitimate feature of a constitutional democracy. The Court, however, drew a distinction between responsible discourse and uninformed assertion, stating that unverified content should not find its way into school curricula meant for young minds.

The Court noted that the controversial chapter had been replaced based on revisions suggested by an expert panel constituted by the Centre.

The case originated from a February 26 order in which the Court imposed a blanket ban on further publication or dissemination of the textbook, remarking that the judiciary was "bleeding" from the offending content. On March 11, the Court had directed the Centre, States, and Union Territories to disassociate from three academicians involved in drafting the chapter.

In a subsequent modification, the Court recalled part of its March 11 order that had recorded that the academicians — Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar, and Alok Prasanna Kumar — had "deliberately and knowingly" misrepresented facts. The Court considered their explanation that content drafting was a collective process and left it to the Centre, States, and public institutions to take independent decisions on the matter without being influenced by its earlier observations.