New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has withdrawn a recently released Class 8 Social Science textbook following criticism over a chapter referring to corruption in the judiciary and has issued an unconditional apology.

The textbook, meant for schools following the central government curriculum including CBSE and Navodaya Vidyalayas, contained a chapter titled “Judicial Corruption”. The chapter discussed challenges faced by the judicial system, including backlog of cases, shortage of judges and alleged corruption at various levels.

The issue came under scrutiny after the Supreme Court took note of the content in the textbook. The court strongly criticised the inclusion of references to judicial corruption in a school-level textbook.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant expressed dissatisfaction during the hearing, observing that presenting such material to school students appeared to be a “deeply planned” move.

Following the court's remarks, NCERT decided to remove the contentious portions from the textbook.

Officials said the council has withdrawn the new Class 8 Social Science book and tendered an unconditional apology over the references made to the judiciary in the chapter.

NCERT textbooks are widely used in schools across the country that follow the central education boards and curricula.