Three experts Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar have moved the Supreme Court of India seeking to answer its criticism of a Class VIII NCERT chapter on the judiciary. The Court said parts of the text allegedly undermined its dignity.
Three experts Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar, and Alok Prasanna Kumar who were criticized by the Supreme Court over a chapter they helped draft on the judiciary for a school textbook, have approached the top court seeking to respond to the remarks made against them.
The Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the Class VIII book published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), concluding that portions of the text undermined the dignity of the judiciary.
Following this, NCERT withdrew the book and apologized for the chapter on the Indian judiciary. The council told the Court that Danino had drafted the chapter with assistance from Diwakar and Kumar in compliance with a court order.
Last month, the Court directed that the three experts be barred from any involvement direct or indirectin preparing curricula or finalizing textbooks in India.
Today, a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was informed that the three have filed applications seeking to explain their position.
The Court noted that those applications were not listed today and asked that they be placed on the roster after defects are cured.
The Bench said,
“Applications have been filed by the three on whom reference has been made in our order dated March 11 where certain directions were issued in respect of them. These applications are not listed today. After curing of defects let the case be listed on so and so date,”
Senior Advocates Arvind Datar, Gopal Sankaranarayanan and J Sai Deepak represented the three experts.
Sankaranarayanan, for Kumar, said,
“We want to show what process was followed. They are not fly-by-night authors. They are respected,”
Senior Advocate Datar, for Professor Danino, said detailed submissions have been provided in the applications.
Senior counsel Deepak said,
“I appear for Suparna Diwakar. This was a collective process and no individual had a sole say”
The controversy began in February after a newspaper highlighted a section of the textbook Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Class 8, Vol. 2) specifically the part addressing “corruption in the judiciary” within a chapter on “The role of the judiciary in our society.”
After the Supreme Court took up the matter, NCERT issued a press note calling the contentious passage an inadvertent error of judgment, announcing its withdrawal and saying it would be rewritten following proper consultation.
When the case was heard on February 26, the Court ordered a halt on the production and distribution of the book.
NCERT later told the Court that the chapter had been rewritten, but the Court required it to be reviewed by a committee of domain experts, preferably including a former senior judge, a noted academic, and a renowned legal practitioner.
Today the Court was informed that a three-member panel Justice (retd.) Indu Malhotra, Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, and Prakash Singh, Vice-Chancellor of HNB Garhwal University has been constituted.
That committee will work with the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, to finalize the legal-studies curriculum for Class VIII and higher grades in line with the NCERT syllabus.
The Court recorded in its order,
“NCERT has also issued notification on April 2 whereby a high powered committee for preparation of national syllabus and teacher learning committee has been reconstituted. The details of the 20 distinguished members including Mr MC Pant being the chairman, has been constituted,”
The Court emphasized that the committee’s mandate should extend beyond the Class VIII chapter and address all relevant aspects.
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