Touching a raw nerve in judiciary

It must surely rank as a rare occurrence in the country that a court ruling has been acted upon in double-quick time. Quite ironically, the subject revolves around ‘corruption’ in judiciary, and the trigger came from a chapter in a Class VIII textbook that has been published by NCERT, which is an autonomous body. Stung by the content in the chapter, almost the entire legal fraternity raised a hue and cry and demanded action against those responsible for the publication. The issue became the talk of the town after the Supreme Court slammed NCERT for adding a section on ‘Corruption in Judiciary’ in the Class 8 textbook. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi raised the matter before the Chief Justice of India, expressing serious concern over the inclusion of judicial corruption in a class eight textbook. “We are deeply disturbed as members of this institution to see that Class 8 students are being taught about corruption in the judiciary. This is part of the NCERT curriculum. We have a strong stake in preserving the integrity of the institution; this is completely scandalous. We have copies of the book,” Sibal commented.

The BJP on Thursday termed the controversial chapter as a “sensitive matter”. This was preceded by the Supreme Court imposing a blanket ban on the Class 8 NCERT book and ordered seizure of all physical copies, along with the digital forms. The apex court bench vented ire by describing it as a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” to defame the judiciary. It all began when NCERT’s newly introduced Class 8 social science textbook described corruption, a huge backlog of cases, and shortage of judges as major challenges facing India’s judicial system. The book cites data of around 81,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court, 62.40 lakh in high courts, and 4.70 crore in district and subordinate courts. It also mentions internal accountability mechanisms, including complaints filed through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS). Quite expectedly this shocker has left the legal practitioners crying for blood by way of stringent action against all those responsible for this damaging text. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for accountability.

Meanwhile, former law minister Ashwani Kumar hailed CJI Surya Kant for taking suo motu cognisance of the chapter and said that the prompt action would help bury the propaganda against the judiciary. The CJI-headed bench has described the entire episode as ‘They fired a gunshot and the judiciary is bleeding.’ The main objection was that the book spoke about corruption in the judiciary but has nothing about its prevalence in the legislature and executive. Apparently, this hit the legal hawks and their egos as they were being singled out. Meanwhile, NCERT has removed the book from its official website and is likely to drop the controversial chapter. One fails to understand why the Council did not clarify on the issue or come up with a statement that corruption in other departments would be featured in a revised edition. When sex education can be incorporated in the school curriculum why should students not be made aware of corruption across segments that is destroying the country? Government sources have come up with valid suggestions that the textbook should have addressed corruption across all branches of government, not just the judiciary. This faux pas seems like it has been done at the behest of vested political interests. Making scapegoats of some Council members is all that can happen. After all, the CJI has gone on record: “Heads must roll” and NCERT has a history of courting controversies.