'Had no intention of insulting judiciary': Education Minister amid NCERT's Class 8 textbook row

New Delhi: Expressing regret over the NCERT textbook row, Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said, "I am very sad at what has happened, there was no intention to insult judiciary."

The Education Minister said, "Accountability will be fixed, action will be taken against those involved in drafting chapter on judicial corruption. We have utmost respect for judiciary, court's directives will be complied with."

Terming the controversial chapter in an NCERT textbook talking about judicial corruption a "sensitive matter", BJP said that it respects the country's judiciary and takes pride in its impartial functioning.

The BJP's remarks came after the Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on the Class 8 NCERT book carrying a chapter on corruption in the judiciary, and ordered the seizure of all physical copies, along with the takedown of its digital forms.

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "So far as the NCERT issue is concerned, it's a sensitive matter. I would like to put forth the party's stand as its spokesperson that there is no other institution, I would say not only in India but in this whole world, that is as independent and as deserving as the Indian judiciary is."

Talking to media people at the BJP headquarters, Patra said, "We all have a feeling of great respect and pride towards the Indian judiciary, and this is the feeling in everyone's heart."

The BJP leader said, "And, we also do 'pranam' to the judiciary. Given the impartiality with which the Indian judiciary functions, we should always respect and stand with the judiciary of the country."

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday strongly objected to the chapter in the NCERT's Class 8 social science curriculum, prompting the syllabus-setting body to withdraw the contentious textbook from its website.

A three-judge bench comprising the CJI Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took suo motu cognisance of the "objectionable" statements about the judiciary in the new textbook after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, alongside Abhishek Singhvi, mentioned the matter for urgent consideration.

Apologising for the 'inappropriate content' after facing the Supreme Court's ire over a chapter talking about judicial corruption in a Class 8 textbook, the NCERT on Wednesday said that the book concerned will be rewritten in consultation with appropriate authorities.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, on Thursda, backed the Supreme Court in its objection to chapters on 'corruption in judiciary' in NCERT textbooks.

In a post on X, Ramesh claimed that the rewriting of such books over the past decade has been an RSS-driven exercise full of "mischief and malice".

"The Supreme Court is rightly agitated over critical references to the judiciary in NCERT textbooks," Ramesh wrote on X.

He said, "Actually, the way NCERT textbooks have been rewritten over the past decade is disgraceful, apart from being dangerous as well. It has been a RSS-driven exercise full of mischief and malice. It is this racket that needs to be investigated."