CJI Frowns, NCERT to Remove “Corruption in Judiciary” Chapter from Class 8 Text Book
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 25: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has taken the initiative to remove the controversial chapter “corruption in judiciary” from Class 8 text book in social science after the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant expressed strong indignation over the attempts to denigrate the institution of judiciary.
Official sources said on Wednesday that the NCERT had issued orders to pull the book out from sale. Staff at the publication division book counter in the NCERT campus in Delhi said the book, which was available for sale at the counter on Monday, was no longer available.
The government is also learnt to be considering action against the officials responsible for the episode. The Supreme Court has earlier taken suo motu cognizance and the CJI expressed “serious concern” and said he had taken cognizance of the matter and could take suo motu action. “I will not allow anyone to defame the institution. The law will take its course,” said the CJI.
Some media houses had reported about the chapter in the class 8 text book, ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society’, which featured a section on challenges faced by the judicial system—corruption, and “massive backlog…on account of multiple reasons, such as a lack of an adequate number of judges, complicated legal procedures, and poor infrastructure.”
“I will not allow anyone to defame the institution. I know how to deal with it,” the CJI said, after senior advocates A M Singhvi and Kapil Sibal raised the issue during mentioning hours. While Singhvi said it was a case of selective portrayal, Sibal said, “We are deeply disturbed, Class 8 students being taught that judiciary is corrupt.” The CJI said he had received many messages about it. “I have taken cognisance of it. It seems to be a deliberate and calculated measure to…I don’t want to say anything more…,” he said.
The book–‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond’ Part 2–was released on Monday. The section on corruption in the judiciary stated that judges are bound by a code of conduct that governs not only their behaviour in court, but also how they conduct themselves outside it. It referred to the judiciary’s internal mechanism to maintain accountability, and an “established procedure for receiving complaints through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS),” with over 1,600 such complaints that were received between 2017 and 2021.
“In cases where the allegations are serious, the Parliament can take action and remove a judge by passing a motion of impeachment. Such a motion is considered only after a proper inquiry, during which the judge is given a fair opportunity to present their side of the case,” it stated.
It added: “Nevertheless, people do experience corruption at various levels of the judiciary. For the poor and the disadvantaged, this can worsen the issue of access to justice. Hence, efforts are constantly being made at the state and Union levels to build faith and increase transparency in the judicial system, including through the use of technology, and to take swift and decisive action against instances of corruption wherever they may arise.” 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.
The chapter on the judiciary in the old Political Science book for Class 8 described the role of the judiciary, what an independent judiciary is, the structure of the courts, and access to them and did not mention corruption.
Senior lawyers Mr Sibal and Mr Singhvi raised the issue in front of the SC bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi. They said it was a matter of great concern that young children were being taught about corruption in the judiciary during their studies.
CJI Surya Kant responded by stating that he was fully aware of the matter and that many judges were also disturbed by the book’s content. “Please wait for a few days. Bar and Bench are all 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,” the CJI said. Justice Bagchi said the book appeared to be against the basic structure of the Constitution.
