New Delhi: The Supreme Court has modified its earlier order concerning three academics who assisted NCERT in preparing a controversial lesson related to the judiciary in a Class 8 social science textbook.
The lesson, which discussed corruption at various levels of the judiciary, triggered a nationwide controversy in February. Taking suo motu cognisance, the Supreme Court heard the matter, after which NCERT apologised and withdrew the disputed content.
In its March 11 order, the court had recorded that the three academics—Prof. Michael Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar—had allegedly distorted facts with the intent of creating a negative image of the Indian judiciary among Class 8 students, and it noted a ban on their involvement in any educational work across the country.
The academics later approached the Supreme Court, stating that no individual has personal authority over textbook drafting and that it is a collective process. Hearing their plea, the court has now made a limited change to its earlier order.
As per the modification, the decision on whether to engage the three professors for academic work will be left to the Central and State governments, and to government-aided universities and educational institutions.
