New Delhi:
The NCERT has released a revised Class 8 Social Science textbook, months after the Supreme Court ordered the withdrawal of its earlier edition over a controversial section on “corruption in the judiciary.”
The rewritten chapter drops the disputed portions, along with references to judicial backlog and two major court verdicts, while adding fresh material on Public Interest Litigation (PIL), tribunals, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
The new version instead expands on the Supreme Court’s constitutional role, Public Interest Litigation (PIL), tribunals and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
What’s Changed?
The chapter’s opening “Big Questions” section, meant to spark critical thinking among students, has also been reworded. Where the earlier edition asked why an independent judiciary was necessary, the revised chapter instead asks why justice matters for a “just and harmonious society.”
Gone entirely is the section on “Challenges Faced by the Judicial System,” which had detailed the “massive backlog” of cases and blamed it on a shortage of judges, cumbersome procedures, and weak infrastructure. Also excised is the section titled “Corruption in the judiciary,” which had cited former Chief Justice of India B R Gavai as acknowledging instances of “corruption and misconduct” within the judicial system.
A section explaining why an independent judiciary safeguards fundamental rights and how the Constitution insulates judges from interference by the legislature and executive has been dropped too. So have classroom discussions built around two landmark judgments: Shreya Singhal vs Union of India, which struck down Section 66A of the IT Act, and Association for Democratic Reforms vs Union of India, which scrapped the electoral bonds scheme.
In their place, the revised textbook introduces a fresh, detailed section on PIL under Articles 32 and 226, calling it “an innovation introduced by the Supreme Court” to tackle matters of public concern. It draws on the Hussainara Khatoon case on undertrial prisoners, M C Mehta’s environmental litigation, and the Vishaka judgment on workplace sexual harassment.
How The Controversy Unfolded
NCERT had brought out the Class 8 Social Science textbook in two parts: Part 1 in July 2025 and Part 2 on February 23, 2026, just weeks before the academic session ended. The second part’s “Corruption in the judiciary” section triggered immediate backlash, prompting the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance on February 25. NCERT apologised the same day for the “inappropriate content” and promised a rewrite. The next day, the court barred distribution of the textbook in both print and digital formats.
The acknowledgements in the revised edition note that it was published in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1/2026, with Chapter 4 titled The Role of the Judiciary in Society, rewritten by an expert committee set up by the education ministry following the court’s order of March 16. The matter is next listed for hearing on July 14.
Authors Dropped
The withdrawn edition credited 51 people on its textbook development team; the revised one lists 48. Missing are Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar, the three experts initially blamed for the disputed chapter. The Supreme Court had, on March 11, directed the Centre, states, Union territories, and educational institutions to cut ties with the trio, before partially modifying that order on May 22 after accepting their explanation that the textbook was a collective effort with no intent to malign the judiciary.
Oversight Since The Row
In the aftermath, the education ministry set up an oversight committee led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Indu Malhotra, with former attorney general K K Venugopal and Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University vice-chancellor Prakash Singh as members. The head of the National Judicial Academy was also roped in to help revise judiciary-related school curricula.
NCERT separately reconstituted its National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee, granting it formal authority to approve, publish and distribute textbooks for Classes 3 to 12.
The revision is part of NCERT’s larger overhaul of school textbooks under the National Education Policy, 2020, and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, 2023, an exercise that has so far produced new textbooks for Classes 1 to 9.
The most immediately noticeable change is on the cover, redesigned to feature the Supreme Court prominently at the top.
In his foreword, NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani wrote that the textbook “integrates the values we desire our students to develop, is rooted in the Indian cultural context and introduces global perspectives in an age-appropriate manner.”
