Amid ongoing suo motu proceedings in the Supreme Court of India over references to alleged “corruption in the judiciary” in a recently introduced NCERT textbook, a former insider of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has approached the Court challenging a passage in another Class 8 Social Science book dealing with judicial rulings on slum evictions.
The fresh petition has been filed by a former Senior Associate Fellow of NCERT questioning a paragraph in Social and Political Life – III, a textbook prescribed across schools nationwide from 2007 until 2026.
The plea objects to a sentence stating that “recent judgments tend to view the slum dweller as an encroacher in the city.” According to the petitioner, the formulation presents eviction-related rulings of the Supreme Court in a selective manner and risks portraying slum residents merely as encroachers without explaining the broader constitutional and legal framework governing such decisions.
The petition argues that constitutional courts are required to balance competing rights, statutory obligations and larger public interest considerations. The absence of this context, it contends, may create a one-sided understanding among students and could undermine public confidence in the judiciary.
The petitioner stated that he had earlier been associated with NCERT’s textbook development process, including authoring and translating educational material, and has approached the Court as a “participant-witness” seeking to safeguard constitutional values in school curricula rather than in an adversarial capacity.
The development comes in the backdrop of the apex court’s February 26 order in a suo motu case concerning another Class 8 Social Science textbook, Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Vol. 2), which contained references to alleged corruption in the judiciary.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant had issued contempt notice to the NCERT Director and the Department of School Education and directed withdrawal of the book from circulation. The latest petition is expected to be heard alongside the ongoing suo motu proceedings.