Hearing the case on ‘Corruption in Judiciary’, chapter of NCERT’s Class 8 Social Science book, Chief Justice Surya Kant said on the press release of the Education Department that it is important to see whether the apology has been sought with a true heart or not. In the hearing on Thursday (February 26, 2026), the Education Department said that it will present an apology in this matter in a better way.
The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Panchauli was hearing the case. The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of this matter. CJI Surya Kant said, ‘We were told that a press release has been issued today. In the press release issued by the Education Department, it has been said that the distribution of the book has been stopped and it is being withdrawn. Regret has also been expressed in the release.
On the apology of the Education Department in the press release, CJI Surya Kant said that it is important to see whether this apology has been sought with a true heart. He said, ‘We are issuing a show cause notice to Dinesh Saklani, Secretary of the Department of School Education and Director of NCERT. We want to know who are the people behind this. The book should be confiscated and removed from public reach. The PDF available online should also be removed.
CJI Surya Kant said, ‘All concerned officers should also follow these orders. Re-publication, distribution, online publication of this book should be stopped. This should not be published even in the media. The principals of the schools where the book has reached should also return it to the department. SG Tushar Mehta said on behalf of the education department that we will present a better apology. On this, CJI Surya Kant said that we will talk about it after looking at the records. Concern was expressed on this from across the country, hence, cognizance was taken.
A lawyer requested to stop the media from reporting the case. On this the CJI said that the mainstream media works responsibly. We got information about this matter from the media only. SG Tushar Mehta said that social media and tabloids are full of blackmailers.
