SCRUBBING THE MIRROR DOESN'T HELP.

Posted: 15.03.2026.

(This piece was published in THE TRIBUNE, Chandigarh, on 15.03.2026, with some minor editing)

The smell of censorship hangs heavily over Delhi these days, enveloping two books, one for perhaps containing official secrets, the other for calling a spade a spade. It's a theater of the absurd, and brings to mind that well-worn World War II anecdote: a man, who publicly called Churchill a fool, was promptly arrested. Opposition MPs in Parliament protested that England was becoming a police state where free speech was being curbed. Churchill clarified that the man was being proceeded against, not because he had called the Prime Minister a fool, but for revealing a state secret! Unfortunately, this sense of humour is missing in our institutions, having been replaced long ago by a sense of righteousness and entitlement.

We will probably never know what official secrets General Naravane's book contains that prompted this government to disallow its publication or even a discussion in Parliament. But it's the furore over the other book, a Class VIII text book on Social Sciences published by NCERT, that is more disturbing and warrants a deeper reflection. Does Churchill's quip about revealing a state secret apply to it?

I for one was shocked at the sheer ferocity of the Supreme Court's reaction when some lawyers brought the book to its notice. The CJI  dubbed it "a calculated move to undermine and overawe the judiciary", to "demean the dignity of the judiciary", a " deep rooted conspiracy". He called for a "deeper probe", adding for good measure that no one would be spared and that "heads must roll.". He refused to accept the Center's or the NCERT apologies. The three academics who wrote the chapter have been blacklisted and debarred from any future engagement by any govt. institution or university.The book was banned instantly and a Sidney Sheldon type investigation launched to trace all of the 38 copies of the book sold so far- I believe about 20 of them have been retrieved, the remaining continue to pose a grave threat to our democracy, like a hidden time bomb.

From material in the public domain, one has been able to glean that this was a new book on Social Sciences for Class VIII, it contained a chapter entitled "The Role of the Judiciary in our Society." The offending part, it is reported, was a sub-chapter called "Corruption in the Judiciary." It attributes delays in the dispensation of justice to factors such as inadequate number of judges, complex legal procedures, poor infrastructure and corruption. It is this latter part which appears to have invited the Court's ire, even though 9 out of 10 Indians would agree with these conclusions.

Moreover, the book is certainly not targeting the judiciary, as the Court appears to believe. It also criticizes other organs of the state. As THE HINDU writes in an editorial: the problem with the SC ban "is not that the textbook selectively targets the judiciary, it is that the judiciary selectively targets certain portions."

Let's not gloss over the reality- corruption has been part of our culture from time immemorial, regularly reinforced by every element of our establishment. It would be a fantasy to expect the judiciary to be an outlier on, or an exception to, this. Data presented in Parliament in February shows that between 2016 and 2025, 8600 complaints were filed against sitting judges. In 2011 Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court was impeached on corruption charges: he resigned before he could be impeached, but he was never prosecuted. In 2018 Justice RK Mittal, a Tribunal judge, was sacked in a corruption case. The case of Justice Yashwant Verma, in whose official house crores of unexplained cash were allegedly found just last year is nowhere near resolution and he continues in service. More instances can be found in the book A CONTROVERSIAL JUDGE (2025) by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Ayaskant Das. India ranks 79th out of 143 countries in the Rule of Law Index (2024), that is, we are in the bottom half. Surely, the factors listed in the NCERT book may have something to do with this?

  An issue which strikes at the very roots of judicial probity should be confronted head-on if we wish to resolve it, and not brushed under the carpet. As Prashant Bhushan says: "Judiciary is not above scrutiny and is accountable to the people..... Reference to judicial corruption and delays in the NCERT curriculum is in keeping with the constitutional values of transparency and accountability." In fact, advocate and eminent legal scholar Gautam Bhatia has questioned whether Article 19 of the Constitution even empowers the Supreme Court to ban a book. It is unfortunate that the Court has decided to take this route; the CJI's assurance that this "is not meant to stifle any criticism" sadly does not inspire much confidence. There has already been much redacting and sanitisation of NCERT textbooks by this government and we could do without more. Education should prepare our youth for entering this harsh and imperfect world, not gloss over its defects under a coat of judicial enamel paint. A celebrated poet had already said this, centuries ago:

" Umra bhar Ghalib yehi bhool karta raha

Dhool chehre pe thi, aina saaf karta raha."

[Your entire life Ghalib you repeated this error

The dust was on your face but you kept wiping the mirror.]