Don't circulate text book : SC

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Mar 2 : Following a Supreme Court order, the Directorate of Education (S) has directed all retail outlets and all Principals/Headmasters in Manipur to immediately stop the circulation (both hard and soft) of Grade-VIII (Part-2) Social Science text book titled "Exploring Society: India and Beyond" (First Edition) published in February 2026 by the NCERT.
It has further called for the seizure and handing over of all copies of the textbook to the concerned Zonal Education Office on or before 1 pm of March 6, 2026 without fail.
According to the order issued by Ng Bhogendra Meitei, Director, Education (S), Chapter 4 of the book is titled "The Role of the Judiciary in our Society" and incorporates a sub-topic explicitly expounding "Corruption in the Judiciary". On February 26, 2026, the Supreme Court of India initiated a suo motu case in this connection and directed the NCERT, in coordination with the Union Government and the concerned State Education Department, to ensure that all copies of the book, in hard or soft form, presently in circulation, including those held in storage, retail outlets, or educational institutions, are immediately seized and removed from public access.
The apex Court had further noted that it would be the personal responsibility of the Director, NCERT, and the principal of every school where the book has been circulated or prescribed to: (a) effectuate the immediate seizure and sealing of all the physical and digital copies of the book within their respective premises and submit a compliance report and (b) ensure that no further pedagogical instructions are imparted based on the contents of the physical or digital copy of the subject book.