National, Feb 25: Surya Kant on Wednesday, February 25, described the inclusion of a chapter on “Corruption in Judiciary” in a Class 8 textbook brought out by National Council of Educational Research and Training as a “calculated and deep-rooted attack” on the judiciary and asserted that the Supreme Court would not allow its integrity to be defamed.
Taking suo motu note of the controversy, the Chief Justice said he had received numerous calls and messages, including from High Court judges, expressing concern over the development. The issue was flagged in court by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who submitted that senior members of the Bar were disturbed by the reference to “judicial corruption” in a Class 8 Social Science book.
Responding firmly, the CJI said the court would act decisively and would not permit anyone to question the integrity of the judicial institution, regardless of how high the matter reached. He termed the development a serious attempt to target the judiciary.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi also raised objections, arguing that the textbook appeared to single out the judiciary while remaining silent on corruption in other branches of governance. Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who was on the Bench, observed that constitutional integrity and the basic structure doctrine were missing from the framework of the book.
The revised textbook includes a chapter titled ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society’, which discusses corruption as a concern affecting judicial credibility and highlights structural challenges such as shortage of judges, complex procedures and inadequate infrastructure. It also cites data on case pendency, stating that the Supreme Court has around 81,000 pending cases, High Courts have over six million cases awaiting disposal, and lower courts face more than 40 million pending cases.
The Supreme Court’s reaction has turned the academic inclusion into a broader constitutional debate over institutional accountability and civic education.
