The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the content of Class 8 NCERT textbook referring to the corruption in the judiciary and termed it a matter of 'grave concern'.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal that 'children of class 8 are taught about corruption in the judiciary. This is a matter of grave concern'.
The CJI said, "I will not allow anybody to defame the institution. Law will take its course. As head of the institution, I have done my duty and have taken cognisance… This seems to be a calculated move. I won't say much."
Justice Bagchi said the book seemed to be against the basic structure of the Constitution.
The CJI said, "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." Later, Justice Kant said the top court has taken suo motu cognisance of the matter.
According to the new social science NCERT textbook for class 8, corruption, massive backlog of cases and lack of an adequate number of judges are among the 'challenges' faced by the judicial system.
The section 'corruption in the judiciary' in the new book states 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.
Follow us
