Supreme Court Directs Centre, States To Disassociate NCERT Social Science Curriculum Team Over ‘Corruption in Judiciary’ Chapter

NCERT: The Supreme Court has directed the Centre and all state governments, as well as all institutions receiving public funds, either partially or fully, to dissociate the chairperson of the NCERT social science curriculum, Professor Michel Denino, and his two other associate members, Richa Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar, who were behind the subchapter in part 2 of the Class 8 NCERT Social Science textbook 'Corruption in the Judiciary,' in any way for the purpose of preparation or school textbook finalization. 

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant also directed all of the aforementioned authorities to disassociate Professor Denino and his team from the Chapter's preparation and inclusion, as well as from rendering any service in any institution that would require them to be paid with public funds, according to an ANI report.

“At the outset, we have no reason to doubt that Professor Michel Danino along with Ms Diwakar and Mr. Alok Prasanna Kumar, either does not have reasonable knowledge about the Indian judiciary or deliberately misrepresented the facts in order to project a negative image of the Indian judiciary before students of Class 8 who are at an impressionable age,” the court observed.

The court further added that “There is no reason as to why such persons be associated in any manner with preparation of curriculum or the finalization of textbooks for the next generation”

Lastly, the court directed the Union, state governments, and publicly funded institutions to ensure that the members concerned are disassociated from rendering services that would involve payment from public funds.