3 weeks ago
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The Supreme Court connected Friday (May 22, 2026) asked a erstwhile apex tribunal judge-led committee to reappraisal cartoons published successful National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks aft Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointed retired that “textbook is not a spot wherever you usage cartoons”.
Editorial | Measure for measure: On India’s courts and criticism
Appearing earlier a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Mr. Mehta, representing the Union Government, raised an objection astir cartoons helium happened to travel crossed successful “some" NCERT textbooks.
Mr. Mehta’s objection raised the constituent whether children should beryllium exposed to satire oregon lampoon done their survey books.
The Solicitor General said “per se” determination were nary objections to cartoons, but the ones printed successful the schoolhouse textbooks would beryllium seen by children of an “impressionable age”.
“It whitethorn not beryllium due to person these cartoons. A textbook is not a spot wherever you usage cartoons,” Mr. Mehta objected.
The apical instrumentality serviceman brought up the contented of cartoons displayed successful NCERT textbooks during a suo motu proceeding concerning a caller contention astir the contents successful a Class 8 Social Science textbook astir the judiciary. In February, the Court had prima facie concluded that the contented was intended towards “maligning the Indian judiciary”. It had initiated contempt proceedings and ordered a “blanket and complete” prohibition connected the textbook.
On Friday (May 22, 2026), the Bench agreed with Mr. Mehta that the propriety of the cartoons published successful the textbook should spell to the government-appointed committee headed by erstwhile Supreme Court judge, Justice Indu Malhotra. The committee, which included elder advocator K.K. Venugopal and Prof. Prakash Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, is collaborating with the National Judicial Academy astatine Bhopal to signifier the Legal Studies curricula for Class 8 and different grades. At the time, the NCERT had besides reconstituted the National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee.
In the past, the Court had emphasised that the “art of satire” should not beryllium near to beryllium evaluated by a “touchy and hyper-sensitive individual”, but a tenable idiosyncratic who could spot the lighter side.
The Court’s 2020 judgement successful Indibily Creative (P) Ltd. v. State of West Bengal had flagged satire’s “unique quality to rapidly and intelligibly marque a constituent and facilitate knowing successful ways that different forms of connection and look often bash not”. The Court had argued that choking state of look stifled statement and endangered the stableness of the community.
