India's Supreme Court has ordered the removal of three members from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the government body responsible for developing school textbooks, following a controversy over how the judiciary is portrayed in educational materials.
The court's directive, issued this week, bars the three officials from participating in the finalization of future textbooks. The ruling represents a rare instance of judicial intervention in the educational content development process and underscores growing tensions over how Indian democracy's institutions are represented to students.
The controversy centers on revisions to a chapter about the judiciary in Class 11 political science textbooks. Critics alleged the revised content downplayed the role of judicial independence and emphasized executive authority over the courts. Legal experts and educators raised concerns that the changes presented an incomplete or misleading picture of the constitutional balance between India's three branches of government.
In India, as across the subcontinent, scale and diversity make simple narratives impossible—and fascinating. NCERT textbooks are used by approximately 150 million students across central and state board schools. What goes into these books shapes how a generation of Indians understands their democracy, constitution, and governing institutions.
"The judiciary chapter is not just academic content—it's civic education in a democracy of 1.4 billion people," said Mrinal Satish, a legal scholar at the National Law University in Delhi. "Students need to understand the courts as an independent check on executive and legislative power, not as subordinate institutions."
The Supreme Court found that the three NCERT members who played key roles in the textbook revisions had conflicts of interest or demonstrated bias in how judicial matters were presented. While the court did not order the textbooks themselves withdrawn, it mandated that these individuals be excluded from future curriculum development work.
The case highlights the politically charged nature of educational content in contemporary India. The Modi government has undertaken significant revisions to school textbooks since 2014, with changes touching on history, social sciences, and political science. Supporters argue the revisions correct historical inaccuracies and colonial-era biases; critics contend they promote a particular ideological vision and downplay pluralist aspects of Indian history and democracy.
