Top News

Supreme Court on NCERT Controversy: The new social science book ‘Exploring Society: India and Beyond’ (Part-II) released by NCERT for Class 8 is currently in the midst of legal disputes. The root of the controversy is the fourth chapter of this book, ‘Role of Judiciary in our Society’, in which while giving examples to judiciary, the sensitive issue like ‘corruption in judiciary’ was mentioned.

The Supreme Court has declared this content ‘objectionable’ He banned its publication and circulation and remarked that it tarnishes the image of the judiciary. Taking a tough stance, the court had directed on March 11 that the three experts who prepared this chapter should be removed from any work to academic responsibilities.

Three experts reached the Supreme Court

Now a new twist has come in this matter when the three blacklisted academicians – Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar have filed a petition in the Supreme Court to clarify their position. The main argument of these experts is that this chapter was not written by any one person, but was part of a collective process.

They have appealed to the court to give them full opportunity to present their views as they are eminent experts in their respective fields and their credibility has been affected by the allegations against them. Before the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, their lawyers clarified that their aim was not to target any institution, but to clarify the context under the new education policy.

Who are these three prominent academicians embroiled in controversies?

All three experts involved in this controversy have long experience in academic and public life:

• Professor Michel Danino: Awarded Padmashree (2017), he is an expert on the Indian knowledge tradition and has been a visiting professor at IIT Gandhinagar.
• Suparna Diwakar: Suparna, who has 30 years of experience in the field of education and rural development, is Professor of ‘Indian School of Development Management’ Is a founding member of.
• Alok Prasanna Kumar: A renowned legal expert and founder of the ‘Vidhi Center for Legal Policy’ He is the co-founder of , who studied at Oxford University.

High power committee formed for review

After the strictness of the court, the Central Government and NCERT have filed a compliance affidavit and have formed new committees for the future. A three-member committee has been formed to review this controversial chapter and the legal studies courses of higher classes, which includes retired judge Indu Malhotra, senior lawyer K.K. Venugopal and Vice Chancellor Prakash Singh.

This committee will work in collaboration with the National Judicial Academy. Apart from this, the Education Ministry has also constituted a 20-member High Power Committee which will consider various aspects of the curriculum as a whole.