NCERT issued a statement apologising and regretting the “inappropriate textual material” and “error in judgement” that had “crept into” the chapter. File
| Photo Credit: M. Karunakaran
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told authorities to fix accountability with regard to the row over the National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT) Class 8 Social Science textbook chapter on “corruption” in judiciary. According to government sources, the Prime Minister has directed that the matter be looked into in detail and accountability be fixed.
Meanwhile, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday (February 26, 2026) said that the government will conduct an inquiry into the matter, and added that responsibility for this will be fixed and action will be taken against officials responsible for it.
Also, the Education Ministry has written to the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry and the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry (MeitY) to stop dissemination of the controversial textbook via digital platforms and media.
The section in question in the new Social Science textbook created outrage this week, even as a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant registered a suo motu case over it calling it a “selective reference”, with the NCERT withdrawing the textbook from distribution within a day of releasing it.
Hours after the Supreme Court of India took up the case, the NCERT issued a statement apologising and regretting the “inappropriate textual material” and “error in judgement” that had “crept into” the chapter.
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On Thursday (February 25, 2026), even as the Supreme Court heard the case over this section in the NCERT book, Mr. Pradhan spoke to presspersons in Jharkhand, saying that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident, adding that he expressed regret over it.
“The moment it came to our notice, directions were issued to withdraw the book and stop its distribution. We have the utmost respect for the judiciary and there was no intent to disrespect the judiciary,” Mr. Pradhan said.
The Education Minister further said that inquiries will be made to fix responsibility for the inclusion of this section in the book, also stating that action will be taken against those responsible for it.
The chapter ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society’ in a Class 8 Social Science book prescribed by NCERT mentions that corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and a lack of adequate number of judges were among the “challenges” faced by the judicial system. The section on “corruption in the judiciary” in the book states that judges were bound by a code of conduct that governed not only their behaviour in court but also how they conducted themselves outside of it.
In his remarks in Jharkhand, the Education Minister said that the government has taken note of the Supreme Court’s directions and will fully comply with the directions.
On Thursday (February 26, 2026) morning, while hearing the suo motu case on the issue, the Supreme Court ordered a complete, blanket ban on the reprinting and digital dissemination of the book, and directed the seizure of the books that had been distributed so far, also calling for a compliance report on the same.
Published – February 27, 2026 06:58 am IST
