Priyanka Chaturvedi calls Supreme Court order on NCERT textbook ‘judicial overreach’

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Friday (March 13, 2026) termed the Supreme Court’s latest directions over a Class 8 textbook chapter referring to “corruption in judiciary” as “judicial overreach”. She urged the government to ensure that all three branches of governance — the legislature, executive, and judiciary — remain equal under the law and open to scrutiny.

Last month, the Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on the Class 8 Social Science textbook brought out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that carried the controversial chapter. On Wednesday (March 11), the court expressed dissatisfaction with what it described as a “laconic” affidavit submitted by the NCERT. It then directed the education body to “disassociate” from the three-member Textbook Development Team that drafted the chapter and barred the members from holding any future role funded fully or partially by public money.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Ms. Chaturvedi said the judiciary’s initial decision to ban the chapter was understandable if it felt unfairly targeted. “Up to that point, we felt it was fine,” she said. “But the matter did not end there. Those involved kept pushing it further, saying that if anyone criticises on social media, the Supreme Court will take action.”

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She noted that the NCERT had already apologised, yet the punitive directions continued. Raising the example of alleged corruption involving Justice Yashwant Varma, she said corruption allegations across public institutions, from politicians to the police and bureaucracy, were routinely investigated, and the judiciary should not be an exception. ““… but the judiciary becomes so sensitive when there is talk of corruption…whereas here an impeachment motion was brought against a sitting High Court judge.”

Last March, burnt cash was discovered in an outhouse linked to Justice Varma, then a Delhi High Court judge, prompting an inquiry ordered by the then Chief Justice of India. The judge was later transferred to the Allahabad High Court. A notice seeking his removal moved by the Opposition remains pending in the Rajya Sabha.