Jamshedpur/New Delhi, February 26 Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed his dismay on Thursday over the NCERT including a chapter on judicial corruption in its Class 8 textbook, while promising to hold individuals accountable and take action against those involved in drafting the controversial section.
He also emphasized that the government has full respect for the judiciary and has no intention of disrespecting the institution.
These remarks came on a day when the Supreme Court observed that there appeared to be a "well-orchestrated conspiracy" to defame the judiciary and imposed a "complete ban" on the Class 8 NCERT textbook, ordering that all copies, both physical and digital, be seized.
"They have fired the first shot. The judiciary is under attack," a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said, a day after the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) apologized for "inappropriate content" in the social science textbook, and said it would be rewritten in consultation with relevant authorities.
The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, issued show cause notices to the NCERT director and the secretary of the department of school education and asked them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against those responsible.
Reacting to the development, Pradhan said, "I am very sad about what has happened and express regret... There was no intention to insult the judiciary. An inquiry will be conducted and accountability will be fixed. Action will be taken against those involved in drafting the chapter. As soon as we got to know about it, the distribution of the textbooks was put on hold."
"In a democratic country like India, the judiciary is supreme, and we have the utmost respect for it. We have taken this issue very seriously. The court's directives will be complied with," he told reporters in Jamshedpur.
Pradhan was in Jamshedpur to participate in a ceremony where President Droupadi Murmu laid the foundation stone for a Jagannath spiritual center.
The NCERT's social science textbook for Class 8, in question, states 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.
After stern words from the Supreme Court that it would not allow "anyone on earth" to tarnish the judiciary's integrity, the NCERT removed the textbook from its website, with sources saying that the government was livid with the controversial references in the curriculum.
The NCERT also apologized for "inappropriate content" on Wednesday after facing the ire of the Supreme Court over the chapter and said the book will be rewritten in consultation with relevant authorities.