The Supreme Court is set to hear a suo motu case over the inclusion of a chapter on corruption in the judiciary in NCERT's Class 8 Social Science textbook. NCERT has apologised for the inappropriate textual material and stopped the book's distribution. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant will conduct the hearing on February 26, 2026.
On February 26, 2026, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a suo motu case in the morning regarding the inclusion of a chapter titled 'The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society' in NCERT's newest Social Science textbook for Class 8. The chapter addresses corruption in the judiciary.
The hearing will be before a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi. The case is titled 'In Re: Social Science Textbook for Grade-8 (Part 2) published by NCERT and ancillary issues'.
The textbook mentions corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and a lack of adequate number of judges as challenges faced by the judicial system. The section on corruption in the judiciary states that judges are bound by a code of conduct that governs not only their behaviour in court but also how they conduct themselves outside of it.
Hours after the top court took note, NCERT issued a statement apologising for the inappropriate textual material and error in judgement. NCERT said the textbook was brought out as per extant procedure, but the issues were observed upon receiving the textbook. The Department of School Education also made similar observations. The directions to stop the distribution of the book have been complied with.
