Supreme Court Plea Challenges 2007 NCERT Textbook Line on Judiciary’s Approach to Slum Dwellers

A former NCERT Senior Associate Fellow has moved the Supreme Court of India, challenging a passage in the Class 8 textbook Social and Political Life – III, prescribed since 2007, for allegedly portraying the judiciary in a distorted manner.

The plea follows the Court’s recent suo motu action over content in the new Class 8 book Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Vol. 2).

A Bench led by CJI Surya Kant had earlier issued a contempt notice to NCERT authorities over references to “corruption in the judiciary.”

The present petition challenges a line stating that “recent judgments tend to view the slum dweller as an encroacher,” arguing that it presents eviction jurisprudence without adequate constitutional context.

[Dr Pankaj Pushkar v. UOI & Anr.]