Chief Justice of India (CJI)Surya Kant strongly criticised the inclusion of the phrase “corruption in judiciary” in a new NCERT Class 8 social sciences textbook, saying he would protect the institution from any attempt to defame it.

 A report published a day earlier stated that the text book listed  judicial corruption and huge case  backlogs as major  challenges facing the system. 

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi raised the issue in court.

Sibal  said, "We are deeply disturbed as the members of this institution to find that children of Class 8 students are being taught about corruption in judiciary. It is part of the NCERT. We have great stake in the institution, it is entirely scandalous. We have the copies of the book." 

CJI Kant  said he was already aware of the issue and had received many calls and messages about it. He told the court, “I can assure all of you. I am fully aware of it.”

When Kapil Sibal asked the court to take suo motu notice, the CJI said, “Wait for a day. This is definitely concerning the entire institution. The bar and the bench are perturbed. Every stakeholder in the system is really perturbed, I am receiving lot of calls and messages. There are judges of High Courts who are perturbed. I have already passed an order and taking the matter suo motu. I will not anyone in the earth to taint the integrity of the institution and defame the institution. Whoseoever high it may be, the law will take its course. I know how to deal with it.”

He added, “I will not allow anyone to defame the institution. I know how to deal with it.”

He further said, “I have taken cognizance of it. It seems to be a deliberate and calculated measure to…I don’t want to say anything more…,” before thanking Sibal and Singhvi.

Singhvi said it was problematic that the textbook focused only on corruption in the judiciary, as it gave the impression that corruption exists only in the courts.