New Delhi, February 25 The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognizance of the contents of the Class 8 NCERT textbook, which refers to corruption in the judiciary, and termed it a matter of "grave concern."
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal that "children in Class 8 are taught about corruption in the judiciary. This is a matter of grave concern."
The CJI said, "I will not allow anyone to defame the institution. The law will take its course."
He added, "As the head of the institution, I have fulfilled my duty and taken cognizance… This appears to be a calculated move. I will not say much."
Justice Bagchi said the book seemed to be against the basic structure of the Constitution.
The CJI said, "Please wait for a few days. Both the Bar and the Bench are concerned. All high court judges are concerned. I will take up the matter suo motu. I will not allow anyone to defame the institution. The law will take its course."
Later, Justice Kant said that the top court has taken suo motu cognizance of the matter.
Corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and a lack of an adequate number of judges are among the "challenges" faced by the judicial system, according to the new social science NCERT textbook for Class 8.
The section "corruption in the judiciary" in the new book states that judges are bound by a code of conduct that governs not only their behavior in court, but also how they conduct themselves outside it.