The latest Class 8 Social Science textbook from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) includes a section on “corruption in the judiciary” within the chapter ‘The role of the judiciary in our society’. This addition has led to a political discussion. The updated chapter highlights challenges like “corruption at various levels of the judiciary” and a significant backlog of cases due to various reasons such as a shortage of judges and inadequate infrastructure.
The previous edition of the textbook mainly focused on explaining the judiciary’s role, the concept of an independent judiciary, court structures, and citizens’ access without explicitly mentioning corruption. However, it did acknowledge delays in the justice delivery system, emphasizing the phrase ‘justice delayed is justice denied’. The new edition’s specific mention of corruption has faced criticism from some quarters.
Congress MP and Supreme Court advocate Kapil Sibal has raised concerns about the focus on judicial corruption, questioning why similar attention is not given to alleged corruption in other areas like politics, public service, and investigation agencies. The updated textbook also provides statistics on pending cases across different levels of the judiciary, including figures from the Supreme Court, High Courts, and District and Subordinate Courts.
The section on “corruption in the judiciary” in the revised textbook discusses the code of conduct that judges must adhere to, both inside and outside the courtroom. It outlines the internal mechanisms within the judiciary to ensure accountability and mentions a procedure for receiving complaints through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), noting the reception of over 1,600 complaints between 2017 and 2021.
Former Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, in July 2025, highlighted instances of corruption and misconduct within the judiciary, emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability to maintain public trust in the judicial system. NCERT is updating textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education. The new Class 8 Social Science book is part of this revision process.
