New Delhi: Days after the Supreme Court banned the publication and digital dissemination of a Class 8 NCERT Social Science textbook with a chapter referring to “corruption in judiciary”, Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi raised the matter in Parliament, calling it a case of “judicial dictatorship”.
Chaturvedi expressed concern about what she called “judicial overreach” in another direction to the Centre and states this week to “dissociate” from professor Michel Danino and two other academics, who drafted the chapter, and ban them from any official work.
She urged the Union law minister “to ensure that there is no such judicial dictatorship or judicial overreach that can create problems in the times to come”.
“I believe that the three branches of our governance should be equal in law, accountable, and open to scrutiny. Any dysfunctionality or supremacy in that leads to a problematic situation for the nation to handle,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.
The book has already been withdrawn, and the Centre has informed the Court that they have issued orders for new books while also tendering an unconditional apology.
The court’s directions had come after NCERT Director D.P. Saklani named Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar in an affidavit, stating that the chapter had been drafted by a team under Danino’s chairmanship.
Chaturvedi said in Rajya Sabha that it was understandable that the judiciary felt hurt by the inclusion of the chapter and that a decision had been taken to enforce a blanket ban on it.
“Up to that point we felt that yes, it was fine. If the judiciary felt that they were being singled out, that decision was right. But the matter did not end there. Those people kept taking it further and further, and said that if anyone criticises on social media, then SC will take action against them,” she added.
She said that NCERT was asked to apologise and it had already tendered an apology.
“But on 11 March again, our honourable… and with all due respect to the SC of India and our judicial process and judiciary… the CJI-led bench again said that the academics who have written this chapter should face action, and said that in any role where academics are used, or any public funded institution or government institution, professor Danino and the two academics should not have any role… and should not have any place, which I think is judicial overreach and judicial dictatorship,” she said.
Highlighting the alleged corruption allegations against high court judge Yashwant Verma, the MP further said, “Politicians have corruption charges against them, investigations happen and proper action is taken against them. It happens in police forces, it happens in the bureaucracy, it happens with individual citizens, it happens with corporates, 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 year in March, burnt cash was found at Justice Verma’s residence outhouse in Delhi, following which the then Chief Justice of India had ordered an enquiry which is still pending. The judge was eventually transferred following the procedure to his parent high court at Allahabad. A notice to impeach the judge was also submitted in the Rajya Sabha, but did not materialise into anything.
“Lakhs of crores of cash were found at his house, and even now the discussion about it is going on in Parliament. And he was transferred, but no action has been taken against him,” Chaturvedi remarked.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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