The Supreme Court has withdrawn its earlier ban on three academicians linked to the controversial NCERT judiciary chapter and removed remarks accusing them of deliberately portraying the judiciary negatively.

The Supreme Court on Friday withdrew its earlier direction barring three academicians linked to the controversial NCERT Class 8 chapter on corruption in the judiciary from participating in academic projects of public institutions and universities. The court also removed its earlier remarks accusing them of intentionally portraying the Indian judiciary negatively before students.

According to a report by Livelaw, the bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi, said the earlier observations were being recalled after hearing explanations from the academicians involved.

The matter relates to a now-removed NCERT Class 8 sub-chapter titled “Corruption in Indian Judiciary”, which had triggered strong criticism earlier this year. The Supreme Court noted in March that the scholars had "deliberately and knowingly" falsified information in order to paint the court in a bad light. The court had also directed government institutions to distance themselves from the three individuals.

Court says governments can decide independently