Four months after withdrawing its controversial Class VIII social science textbook following a Supreme Court order, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released a revised edition of the textbook featuring a revamped chapter on the role of the judiciary.The Supreme Court had on February 26 imposed a complete ban on further publication, printing or digital dissemination of the book over a section on “Corruption in the judiciary” and said it would like to have a deeper probe into the matter. The NCERT issued a public apology and withdrew the book from the market.The section on “Corruption in the judiciary”, which quoted former Chief Justice of India BR Gavai as saying that “there had been instances of corruption and misconduct” within the judiciary, has been removed from the chapter.The revised edition of “Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Part 2,” has removed discussions around corruption in the judiciary and backlog of cases, and has introduced “Writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Court and public interest litigation” in the chapter — “The role of the judiciary in our society”.The chapter also gives a brief on important PIL cases, including the famous Vishaka and others vs state of Rajasthan, which later led to the enactment of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.A section in the chapter includes “Alternative modes of dispute resolution” and introduces students to arbitration, mediation, negotiation, Lok Adalat and gram nyayalayas.The textbook also asks students to write an essay about a Supreme Court and a High Court judge. An introduction to digital technology and judicial system has been included in the chapter.The BNS, which was brought into effect on July 1, 2024, has also been briefly taken up in the chapter.The earlier Class VIII social science textbook was released in two parts — Part I in July 2025 and Part II in February 2026.In response to the controversy, the Education Ministry constituted an oversight committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge, Justice Indu Malhotra, with former Attorney General KK Venugopal and Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University Vice Chancellor Prakash Singh as members.