New Delhi, February 27 The NCERT issued an advisory on Friday, asking anyone who has copies of the banned class 8 textbook, which included a chapter on "judicial corruption," to return them to the council headquarters.
In a strongly worded advisory, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) also called for the deletion of all social media posts that contain the chapter's content.
The Union Ministry of Education wrote to the ministries of information and broadcasting, and electronics, on Thursday, asking them to stop the dissemination of the controversial NCERT textbook through digital platforms and electronic media, following the Supreme Court's ban on the social science book.
"Any individual or organization in possession of the NCERT textbook 'Exploring society: India and Beyond' may return it to the (NCERT) headquarters. Any content related to the chapter 'role of judiciary in our society' if posted on social media or any digital platform should be deleted as soon as possible," the advisory stated.
This directive comes after the Supreme Court on Thursday imposed a "complete ban" on any further publication, reprinting, or digital dissemination of the NCERT's class 8 book, as it contained "offensive" content on corruption in the judiciary, stating, "a gunshot has been fired and the institution is bleeding."
The NCERT's Social Science textbook for class 8 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.
The NCERT has also apologized for the "inappropriate content" after facing criticism from the Supreme Court over the chapter and said that the book will be rewritten in consultation with appropriate authorities.