Return Social Science textbook, delete posts: NCERT

NCERT orders return of banned Class 8 Social Science textbook and removal of related social media posts following Supreme Court ruling.

A day after the Supreme Court banned a Social Science textbook over a section on “corruption” in the judiciary, the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) on Friday (February 27, 2026) asked people to return the book and take down related social media posts.

The NCERT reiterated that it had withdrawn the Class 8 textbook.

In its advisory issued on Friday (February 27, 2026), the NCERT called for any “individual or organisation” in possession of the book or any material related to it to return it to the Publication Division of the Department of Education in Social Sciences in New Delhi “at the earliest possible”. Anyone who had posted any material related to the controversial section on social media or online should delete it, it said.

The statement was issued by the office of Himanshu Gupta, Secretary, NCERT, and cited the Supreme Court order in this regard.

The Supreme Court registered a suo motu case on Wednesday (February 25, 2026) in relation to the section that had appeared in a chapter titled “Role of Judiciary in Our Society”. Chief Justice Surya Kant called the section on “corruption” in the judiciary a “selective reference”, while calling for a suo motu case to be registered.

On Thursday (February 26, 2026), while hearing the case, the Supreme Court directed that copies of the book that had already been distributed or sold be seized, further asking officials concerned to file a compliance report regarding this seizure.