The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court of India that it has constituted an expert committee to review a revised Class 8 NCERT textbook chapter dealing with the judiciary, including references to corruption.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, that the panel comprises eminent legal figures tasked with reviewing and drafting the chapter.
The committee includes senior advocate and former Attorney General K K Venugopal, former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra, and former apex court judge Aniruddha Bose, who is currently associated with the National Judicial Academy. A vice-chancellor is also part of the panel.
“We have formed the committee to draft the chapter. Mr KK Venugopal will be a member of the committee. Justice Indu Malhotra will also be a part. We have also requested Justice Aniruddha Bose from the National Judicial Academy to be there,” Mehta submitted.
Also read: SC orders Centre to 'disassociate' from NCERT authors
The Bench was hearing a petition filed by former NCERT member Pankaj Pushkar challenging a passage in an earlier Class 8 political science textbook. The contested excerpt stated that “recent judgments tend to view the slum dweller as an encroacher in the city”.
The top court, however, declined to entertain the plea, underscoring that the judiciary should not be unduly sensitive to criticism.
“It’s a viewpoint about a judgment. That’s a healthy criticism. Why the judiciary should be so oversensitive about that. This part of the book points out what is the structure of the judiciary, how they work, what they have done, some good has also been highlighted,” the Chief Justice observed orally.
The Bench further noted, “Then they say, however, there are also Court judgments that people believe work against the best interests of common persons … This is a viewpoint about a judgment, people have a right to criticise our judgments.”
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