Supreme Court Recalls Order Against 3 NCERT Textbook Experts

The Supreme Court has recalled an earlier part of its order against three academicians Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar in the NCERT Class 8 textbook controversy. The Court removed its earlier direction asking governments, universities and educational institutions to disassociate from them. It also withdrew its earlier remark that the three had deliberately misrepresented facts. This comes as a major relief for the experts and marks an important shift in the case linked to the chapter on the judiciary in an NCERT social science textbook.Read the article below to know more details.

Court Softens Its Earlier Stand

The matter was heard by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi. The Court said that after considering the explanation given by the three authors, it was appropriate to modify its earlier order. As a result, the direction asking public institutions to stay away from the three academicians has now been removed.

The Bench also clarified that its earlier observation suggesting the experts had knowingly or deliberately misrepresented facts would no longer stand. However, the Court said that the Union government, State governments and other authorities are free to make their own decisions independently without being influenced by the earlier order.

What Led to the NCERT Textbook Controversy

The NCERT controversy began in February 2026 after media reports highlighted a section in the Class 8 textbook Exploring Society: India and Beyond in Vol. 2. The chapter, titled “The role of the judiciary in our society,” was said to contain content linked to corruption in the judiciary. The issue quickly drew attention and the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the matter. After the controversy surfaced NCERT called the inclusion an inadvertent error of judgment and removed the disputed portion from the textbook. 

Earlier Supreme Court had taken a strict view and even ordered a ban on the production and distribution of the book. It had also directed that the three experts should not be involved in curriculum or textbook preparation in India.With the latest order the Court has now eased that position. While the controversy over the textbook chapter remains important the direct restrictions placed on the three academicians have been withdrawn.