NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday continued its sharp criticism of the NCERT over the newly introduced Class 8 social science textbook, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant lambasting NCERT over a chapter discussing “corruption” and “backlogs” in the judiciary, calling it a “deep-rooted and well-planned conspiracy.“However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta tendered an unconditional and unqualified apology on behalf of the education ministry.CJI Surya Kant reprimanding NCERT for the second consecutive day, said, “There appears to be a deep-rooted, well-planned conspiracy to defame the judiciary.”“It is my duty to find out who is responsible; heads must roll,” the CJI said on the NCERT book row.The top court also observed, “There is not a single word of apology in NCERT’s communication. Instead, they have sought to justify it.” The Supreme Court also called to have a “deeper probe”.A day earlier, the Supreme Court had also come down heavily on the NCERT over the introduction of the new textbook, which outlined the country’s judicial system in chapter titled — “The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society”, including references to corruption, a heavy backlog of cases, and an inadequate number of judges.Following the top court’s sharp remarks, the NCERT moved to withdraw the revised textbook.The NCERT also began retrieving the 38 copies that had been sold out of the 2.25 lakh printed, sources confirmed to news agency ANI.In a late-night development, the board announced that it had put the distribution of the newly released textbook on hold after noticing “inappropriate textual material and an error of judgment” in the chapter on the judiciary. It said the issue was flagged both internally and by the Department of School Education and Literacy under the education ministry.
