New Delhi, February 25 Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar praised Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday for taking suo motu cognizance of the chapter on judicial corruption in the NCERT's Class 8 curriculum and said the prompt action would help dispel the propaganda against the judiciary.
In a statement, he said the action would also reaffirm people's faith in the intellectual and professional integrity of the judicial branch, which is vital for strengthening the foundations of India's constitutional democracy.
"The Chief Justice of India has done well, as expected of his high office, to take suo motu cognizance of an offensive chapter in the NCERT curriculum suggesting widespread judicial corruption," he said.
Kumar said the chapter, intended for study by children of impressionable age, is bound to damage the credibility of a vital pillar of our democracy, which is the final arbiter of the constitutional conscience.
"The offending chapter, suggesting widespread judicial corruption without any empirical evidence, is an unacceptable constitutional transgression. The Chief Justice's prompt action in this matter will hopefully dispel the insidious propaganda against the judicial branch as a whole and reaffirm the people's willing allegiance to the intellectual and professional integrity of the judicial branch."
"This is vital for strengthening the foundations of our constitutional democracy," said the former minister for law and justice in the UPA government led by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
CJI Kant strongly objected to a chapter on judicial corruption in the NCERT's Class 8 curriculum, stating that no one on Earth will be allowed to defame the judiciary and tarnish its integrity.
A three-judge bench comprising the CJI and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took suo motu cognizance of the "objectionable" statements about the judiciary in NCERT textbooks after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, along with Abhishek Singhvi, raised the matter for urgent consideration.
The NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) social science textbooks for Class 8 state that corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and the lack of an adequate number of judges are among the challenges faced by the judicial system.
A section titled "Corruption in the judiciary" in the new textbooks says judges are bound by a code of conduct that governs not only their behavior in court but also how they conduct themselves outside it.
"I can assure you all that I am fully aware of this," the CJI said, adding that he had received various calls and messages, and many high court judges were "perturbed".