CHENNAI: Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan has approached the Madras High Court with a writ plea to restrain the Centre from publishing and circulating the books containing a cartoon, which denigrated Dr BR Ambedkar, the Father of Indian Constitution.
A vacation bench comprising Justices K Venkataraman and CS Karnan on Wednesday ordered notice to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, National Council for Education and Research Training (NCERT) secretary and the New Chanab Offset Printers editor in New Delhi, returnable in four weeks.
In his public interest writ petition, Thirumavalavan, who raised the issue in Parliament on May 10 last, submitted that though the HRD Minister Kabil Sibal tendered an apology, no step had been taken to remove the cartoon from the XI std text book of the NCERT. The schools were due to open after summer vacation shortly. In that case, the same insult would continue.
Unless the authorities concerned were restrained from publishing and circulating the book during the coming academic year, great hardship and prejudice would be caused to the petitioner and the dalit community, petitioner contended in his petition.
He sought to restrain the authorities concerned from publishing and circulating the objectionable portion contained in page 18, chapter I in the Political Science Book of Class XI students under the title `Constitution at Work’.