‘Are cartoons in NCERT textbooks proper?’ Supreme Court asks retired judge panel to review

Key points

• The Supreme Court on Friday (May 22, 2026) asked a former apex court judge-led committee to review cartoons published in Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointed out that “textbook is not a place where you use cartoons”.
• Editorial | Measure for measure: On India’s courts and criticism Appearing before a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Mr. Mehta, representing the Union Government, raised an objection about cartoons he happened to come across in “some" NCERT textbooks.
• Mehta’s objection raised the point whether children should be exposed to satire or lampoon through their study books.
• The Solicitor General said “per se” there were no objections to cartoons, but the ones printed in the school textbooks would be seen by children of an “impressionable age”.
• “It may not be proper to have these cartoons.