Getting hundreds and hundreds of calls. Even before (Kapil) Sibal mentioned it yesterday, I had taken cognisance, CJI Kant says.

He thanks the media “for bringing this out”.

“We all must stand together and defend the independence of the judicial institution,” he states.

Krishnadas Rajagopal

The SG says the current apology is not enough. An unqualified and unconditional apology will be published. 

The individuals who prepared the chapter would not be associated with any preparation of any chapter or any work in any ministry, he adds.

Both physical and digital copies of the book must be seized or withdrawn from public access, CJI says in direction to all education secretaries. 

SG says out of 2.38 lakh books, only a few books have gone. No books have gone out in hundreds, CJI adds.

He asks for compliance reports to be filed in two weeks.

The NCERT, in coordination with Union and State departments, are directed to ensure that copies of the book, hard or soft, in circulation are immediately seized and away from public access, even from digital platforms.

It would be the personal responsibility of the NCERT Director and school principals, the Bench says

The question is to whether the apology has been tendered genuinely or not to wriggle out the spot when substantial damage has been done, we will consider at a later stage.

“We deem it appropriate to issue show cause notice to Dept. of School Education secretary, Dr. Dinesh Prakash Sakhlani (NCERT Director) as to why suitable action under contempt of court act or in accordance with any other provisions of law against them or those found responsible for introducing the offending chapter,” CJI says.

The notice has been published in the media and copy placed on record by the Solicitor General. It is a press release issued by the NCERT. 

According to this release, the Department of School Education and Literacy said the distribution of the book has been held back until further orders. That chapter would be rewritten, it has said. An apology has also been tendered in the release.

The necessity to judicial intervention has arisen, CJI Kant says, to safeguard the pedagogical sanctity. “Students are only beginning to navigate the nuances of life, it is fundamentally wrong to expose them to biased misconceptions at this tender age.”

“There is a need to appreciate the manifold and onerous responsibilities by the judiciary,” the CJI says, adding that it may lasting impact on judicial independence.

“We have to keep in mind that the subject book will not remain confined to students only, the contents are bound to travel from students, teachers to parents and including the next generation too. It may have lasting impact on judicial independence. Such misconduct falls within criminal contempt if it proves to be deliberate it will be amount to scandalising the institution and bring it to disrepute,” he adds.

CJI Kant says that the top court, at this juncture, does not propose to initiate suo motu proceedings to stifle legitimate criticism of public institutions, including the judiciary

“It seems to us that the choice of words, expressions in the book may not be simpliciter inadvertent. At this juncture, we may however hasten to add that we do not propose to initiate suo motu proceedings to stifle legitimate criticism of public institutions, including the judiciary. We are of the firm opinion that dissent and criticism is vital to democracy and encourages institutional accountability,” he says.

The Bench states that it seems that the book’s narrative chooses not to delve into any of the transformative measures or initiatives to overhaul the legal aid and ease of access to justice.

This silence is particularly egregious given the high ranking officers who have been censured by this court, the CJI says.

In his remarks, CJI Kant says that if this is allowed to go unchecked, it will erode the sanctity of the judiciary in the eyes of the public and “more importantly the impressionable minds of the youth”.

While the publication dedicates the role of judiciary in the society and washed off with one stroke of the pen the illustrious history of the Supreme Court, HCs is consciously committed without mentioning any substantive contributions of these institutions towards protecting the democratic values.

“The text fails to mention the role of the judiciary in upholding constitutional values, basic structure,” the CJI adds.

The Framers of our Constitution has been profoundly cautious and took care that the three pillars - legislature, executive and judiciary - perform in respective autonomy, CJI Kant says.

By observed constitutionally prescribed demarcation, we are shocked when a leading newspaper published an article regarding the release of social science textbook for Class 8 titled ‘exploring society India and beyond’ February 2026 by NCERT.

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Justice Joymalya Bagchi says online platforms should be told to take down. It is extremely lopsided as it has not been highlighted that judiciary is the protector of the Constitution. “How we do legal aid, etc., not mentioned,” he says.

“Heads must roll. There must be a deeper probe into this issue. Who are the persons behind this? We want to know. We must,” CJI Kant states.

CJI Kant says this is a very very calculated move. Teachers have also been told and the parents would also have to teach children. 

The deep-rooted conspiracy against the judiciary, he adds.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal says the textbook is in available in pdf format and it would be circulated.

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SG says the two individuals who prepared this chapter will not be associated with any ministry. He adds that 32 books are being withdrawn from the market while the entire chapter will also be withdrawn.

Krishnadas Rajagopal

CJI Surya Kant says there is not a single word of apology in the NCERT notice. “This is a deep-rooted conspiracy,” he adds.

Earlier on Wednesday (February 25, 2026), CJI Kant was livid as he referred to the textual content as a “tentatively calculated, deep-rooted attempt” to denigrate the judicial institution.

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The chapter ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society’ in the Class 8 Social Science book prescribed by NCERT mentions that corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and a lack of adequate number of judges were among the “challenges” faced by the judicial system. The section on “corruption in the judiciary” in the book states that judges were bound by a code of conduct that governed not only their behaviour in court but also how they conducted themselves outside of it.

In its statement, the NCERT said the textbook was brought out “as per extant procedure”, adding that the “inappropriate textual material” and “error in judgement” had been “observed” “on receiving the textbook”. It said that the Department of School Education also made similar observations.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Thursday morning (February 26, 2026) a suo motu case registered over the inclusion of a chapter — ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society’ — on “corruption” in the judiciary in the NCERT’s newest Social Science textbook for Class 8.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi will hear the case titled ‘In Re: Social Science Textbook for Grade-8 (Part 2) published by NCERT and ancillary issues’.