Judiciary chapter row: SC bars 3 authors from academic work

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all Centre and state government institutions receiving public funds to dissociate Michel Danino, chairperson of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) social science curriculum, and two other members from rendering any service.

The other two members at the centre of the storm, named in the order, are Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar. Danino describes himself as a lifelong student of Indian civilisation, an author, and educationist who has lived in India since 1977. He rejects the possibility of an Aryan Invasion.

He is a lifetime member of the Indian Archaeological Society, the Indian History and Culture Society, the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies (Pune), and the Indian Society for History of Mathematics. He also served on the National Steering Committee for developing National Curriculum Frameworks.

His research papers on Indian history and protohistory have appeared in journals such as Man and Environment and Dossiers d’Archéologie.

Danino was at the centre of the storm when Part 1 of NCERT’s Class VIII textbook was released, as its history chapters drew criticism.

Part 1 of the Class VIII social science textbook described Akbar as a blend of “tolerance and cruelty” and noted Aurangzeb’s destruction of temples and gurdwaras. Sharp criticism came from Jaisalmer’s erstwhile royal family, who objected to the map depicting Jaisalmer as part of the Maratha empire.

Diwakar works as an education consultant and was part of the task force implementing the National Education Policy-2020 in Karnataka. Kumar is a legal researcher and the co-founder of the independent think-tank, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. He joined the textbook development team after stepping down from his role at Vidhi in April 2025.

The Class 8 Social Science book has combined History, Geography, Civics and Economics into one.