New Delhi, Feb 24 (NationPress) The latest Class 8 Social Science textbook published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has added a segment discussing “corruption within the judiciary” in a chapter named ‘The role of the judiciary in our society’, igniting a political discourse.

In this updated chapter, the textbook highlights “corruption at various levels of the judiciary” and mentions a “substantial backlog... due to various factors such as inadequate judge staffing, convoluted legal processes, and insufficient infrastructure” as significant challenges facing the judicial system.

In contrast, the previous version of the textbook mainly elaborated on the judiciary's role, the idea of an independent judiciary, the court structure, and citizens' access, without directly addressing corruption.

Nevertheless, it did note delays in delivering justice, stating, “justice delayed is justice denied” to describe the prolonged durations courts take to resolve cases.

The specific reference to corruption in the new edition has sparked criticism from some political figures.

Congress MP and Supreme Court advocate Kapil Sibal criticized the focus on judicial corruption while highlighting alleged misconduct in other sectors.

Referring to the new material, he questioned why similar scrutiny was not directed towards the “massive corruption” involving “politicians, including ministers, public servants, and investigative agencies” and why such issues are often “swept under the rug” by governments.

“NCERT’s Class 8 textbook includes a section on: Corruption in the judiciary! What about the massive corruption of: Politicians, including ministers, public servants, and investigation agencies? And why do governments brush them under the carpet!” Sibal tweeted on X.

The revamped textbook also lists approximate statistics on pending cases within the judiciary, citing around 81,000 cases in the Supreme Court, nearly 62,40,000 in High Courts, and about 4,70,00,000 in District and Subordinate Courts.

In discussing accountability, the section on “corruption in the judiciary” clarifies that judges must adhere to a code of conduct regulating their behavior both in and out of the courtroom.

It details the judiciary’s internal processes for ensuring accountability and mentions an “established procedure for receiving complaints through the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS),” indicating that over 1,600 complaints were logged between 2017 and 2021.

The book also references former Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, who in July 2025 remarked: “…Regrettably, instances of corruption and misconduct have emerged within the judiciary. Such events adversely affect public trust, potentially diminishing faith in the integrity of the system overall. However, rebuilding this trust requires swift, clear, and transparent actions to address these issues… Any decline in this confidence threatens to undermine the judiciary’s constitutional role as the ultimate arbitrator of rights. Transparency and accountability are fundamental democratic principles.”

NCERT has been updating textbooks across various classes in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education.

New textbooks for Classes 1 to 8 have been released thus far, with the first segment of the updated Class 8 Social Science book issued in July of last year.