'RSS-driven exercise full of mischief': Congress backs Supreme Court amid NCERT textbook row

Jairam Ramesh said, "The Supreme Court is rightly agitated over critical references to the judiciary in NCERT textbooks."

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, on Thursday, backed the Supreme Court in its objection to chapters on 'corruption in judiciary' in NCERT textbooks. In an X post, 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 has imposed a "complete blanket ban" on the Class 8 NCERT book featuring the chapter and ordered that all copies, physical and digital, be seized.

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

"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," he said.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi have issued show cause notices to the NCERT director and the secretary of the department of school education and asked them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against those responsible.

The bench had taken 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.

The controversy has erupted over a Class 8 social science chapter which said that corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and the lack of an adequate number of judges are among the challenges faced by the judicial system.

The NCERT pulled the textbook from its website, with sources saying the government was livid with the controversial references in the curriculum after the Supreme Court said that it will not allow "anyone on earth" to tarnish the judiciary's integrity.

On Wednesday, the NCERT issued an apology for "inappropriate content" after facing the apex Court's ire over the chapter and said the book concerned will be rewritten in consultation with appropriate authorities.

(With PTI inputs)