Supreme Court Clarifies Stand On Criticism Of Judiciary In NCERT-Related Order
SC distinguishes informed criticism from unsupported assertions about judiciary.
The Supreme Court has observed that the judiciary is not, and cannot be, averse to criticism, while stressing that criticism of judicial functioning should be fair, informed and constructive. The remarks came as the court closed suo motu proceedings concerning content in an NCERT Class 8 social science textbook that referred to corruption in the judiciary.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana noted that criticism has an important role in a constitutional democracy. The court, however, distinguished between responsible discourse and uninformed assertions, observing that concerns about the judiciary should be raised through appropriate forums and rational mechanisms. It cautioned against unverified material being included in school curricula meant for impressionable students.
The observations were made in the Supreme Court’s September 1 order, which became available later. The bench took note of the fact that the controversial chapter had been replaced following revisions recommended by an expert panel constituted by the Centre. The proceedings had focused on what the court had earlier described as “offending” content relating to corruption in the judiciary in the Class 8 textbook.
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The case also followed the court’s earlier March 11 order involving three academicians associated with the drafting of the controversial chapter — Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar. The Supreme Court had subsequently modified that order after considering their explanations that the textbook content was prepared through a collective drafting process and that no individual had sole authority over its inclusion. The court also recalled its earlier observation that the academicians had “deliberately and knowingly” misrepresented facts to create a negative impression of the judiciary among Class 8 students.
The Supreme Court had also clarified that its earlier comments were directed at the contents of the textbook and not at the individuals involved in preparing it. It had left the Centre, states, Union Territories, public universities and government-funded institutions free to independently decide whether to take any action concerning the three academicians, without being influenced by observations contained in the March 11 order.
The controversy began after the court on February 26 imposed a blanket ban on further publication, reprinting and digital dissemination of the NCERT Class 8 social science textbook containing the disputed material. The court had strongly objected to the manner in which corruption in the judiciary was presented to school students and subsequently directed the Centre to constitute a committee of domain experts to finalise NCERT’s legal studies curriculum for Class 8 and higher classes.
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