NCERT may remove controversial portion on judiciary from class 8 textbook, say sources

The controversial portions about judicial corruption in NCERT's class 8 textbook could be removed as the government has not taken kindly to the matter, sources said on Wednesday, while the council pulled the book from its website.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi has taken suo motu cognisance of the "objectionable" statements about the judiciary in NCERT textbooks after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, alongside Abhishek Singhvi, mentioned the matter for urgent consideration.

Separately, CJI Kant strongly objected to a chapter on judicial corruption in the NCERT's Class 8 curriculum, saying nobody on earth will be allowed to defame the judiciary and taint its integrity.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training's (NCERT's) new social science textbooks for Class 8 say corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and the lack of an adequate number of judges are among the challenges faced by the judicial system.

Meanwhile, the NCERT is said to have called an internal meeting to review the recommendations of the subject experts involved in the chapter and the officials who approved it.

NCERT Chairman Dinesh Prasad Saklani did not respond to calls and messages on the issue. Another top official at the council refused to comment, saying the matter is sub judice now.

The government sources said that while NCERT is an autonomous body, officials responsible for adding chapters should have applied their minds. If the issue of corruption was to be included in the textbook, it should have been related to all three organs -- the executive, judiciary and the legislature, they said.

The book pegs the approximate number of pending cases in the Supreme Court at 81,000, in high courts at 62.40 lakh, and district and subordinate courts at 4.70 crore.

It highlights the judiciary's internal accountability mechanisms and refers to the established procedure for receiving complaints through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).

According to the book, over 1,600 complaints were received through this mechanism between 2017 and 2021.

The textbook also quotes former Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, who in July 2025 said that instances of corruption and misconduct within the judiciary had a negative impact on public confidence.

"However, the path to rebuilding this trust lies in the swift, decisive and transparent action taken to address and resolve these issues... Transparency and accountability are democratic virtues," he is quoted as saying in the book.

The government sources said that data on corruption in the judiciary is available in parliamentary records and the national judicial data grid, but the Union Law Ministry was not consulted for cross verification of the fact.

The sources also said former CJI Gavai's quote on corruption in the judiciary was taken out of context, and he is learnt to be unhappy over it.

"If students are to be taught about corruption, the chapter should have ideally encouraged them to file a graft complaint, but not single out one institution. An in-house mechanism already exists in the Supreme Court and the 25 high courts to deal with complaints of corruption against judges. As per the drafters of the constitution, the judiciary is an independent institution which is capable of dealing with such cases," a government functionary said.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had told the Lok Sabha earlier this month that 8,639 complaints have been received against sitting judges between 2016 and 2025. The highest number of complaints (1,170) was received in 2024 by the office of the CJI against sitting judges.