'Content, not individuals': Supreme Court tones down remarks against academicians in NCERT row

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday assured three academicians linked to the now-removed NCERT Class 8 sub-chapter titled “Corruption in Indian Judiciary” that it would delete certain harsh observations made against them in an earlier order.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi clarified that the court’s remarks in the suo motu case were directed at the controversial “content” of the chapter and not at the "individuals" academicians personally.

“We knew that the observations were harsh. We knew it affected them. In response to that, we are deleting those portions,” Justice Bagchi said during the hearing.

The academicians had approached the court seeking removal of observations that questioned their academic integrity and suggested that no academic institution would engage them in future.

Senior advocates Shyam Divan, Gopal Sankaranarayanan and J Sai Deepak, appearing for the academicians, told the bench that their clients had “zero intent” to malign the judiciary.

The court clarified that it was never opposed to academic discussion on the judiciary. However, it said the concern was that “corruption” had been projected as a defining feature of the judicial system in the textbook chapter.

The bench also advised academicians to exercise restraint and maintain respect for the constitutional framework while preparing educational material related to the judiciary.

The court observed that the chapter lacked balance, noting that issues such as access to justice, legal aid and the role of judges in legal services had been completely ignored.

“Access to justice through legal aid, the role of judges in legal services and legal aid were completely ignored,” Justice Bagchi said.

After a brief hearing, the Supreme Court assured the academicians that the contentious observations would be removed from the earlier order.