Supreme Court Orders Expert Committee to Review NCERT Chapter on Judicial Corruption

Overview The Supreme Court has directed the Central Government to set up an Expert Committee for reviewing the controversial NCERT chapter on judicial corruption. The move follows a suo motu case filed by the Court after the chapter was deemed objectionable. Key Developments On 20 March 2026 , Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta informed a three‑judge bench that the committee will include KK Venugopal (Senior Advocate, former Attorney General), Justice Indu Malhotra (former Supreme Court judge), and Justice Aniruddha Bose (Director, National Judicial Academy, former Supreme Court judge). The Court had earlier banned the Class 8 social‑science textbook containing the chapter on "corruption in the judiciary" and accepted NCERT’s apology and withdrawal of the same. NCERT’s revised draft of the chapter was slated for the upcoming academic session, prompting the Court to bar its inclusion until the Expert Committee’s review is completed. A separate PIL concerning a remark about slum dwellers was dismissed, with the Court noting the textbook is being replaced. Important Facts The committee’s composition reflects the Court’s guideline that it should comprise a former senior judge, an eminent academician, and a renowned legal practitioner. The three members named satisfy these criteria: KK Venugopal – senior advocate and former Attorney General (practitioner). Justice Indu Malhotra – former Supreme Court judge (senior judge). Justice Aniruddha Bose – Director of the National Judicial Academy and former Supreme Court judge (academician and judicial administrator). The Court also barred the three academics who originally drafted the chapter from participating in any other public‑institution academic projects. UPSC Relevance This episode touches upon several GS topics: Polity (GS2) : Role of the judiciary in safeguarding educational content, the concept of suo motu jurisdiction, and the functioning of the Solicitor General . Education (GS1/GS2) : NCERT’s mandate, textbook revision processes, and the impact of judicial interventions on curriculum design. Law & Justice (GS2) : Use of PIL to raise concerns about public‑institutional content. Way Forward The Expert Committee is expected to submit a detailed report before the next academic session. Depending on its recommendations, NCERT may either: Revise the chapter to address the Court’s concerns while preserving educational value, or Exclude the topic altogether, prompting a broader debate on how judicial accountability is taught in schools. Stakeholders—including teachers, civil society, and policy‑makers—should monitor the committee’s findings, as they will shape future curricula on governance and ethics, a core component of the UPSC syllabus.