The National Council of Educational Research and Training on Tuesday issued a public apology for a section in a now-withdrawn textbook that spoke about “corruption in the judiciary” after the Supreme Court said that it had defamed the institution.

The NCERT issued the apology more than two weeks after the Supreme Court banned the publication and re-printing of the textbook on February 26 after taking suo motu cognisance of the matter.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi had told the Union government and state education departments to ensure that all copies of the book, printed or digital, were removed from public access.

The section was a part of a chapter in the NCERT’s Class 8 social science textbook, titled “Exploring Society: India and Beyond”.

“The Director and Members of NCERT hereby tender an unconditional and unqualified apology for the said Chapter IV,” the educational body said in a press release. “The entire book has been withdrawn and is not available.”

The educational body further said: “We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and appreciate the understanding of all stakeholders.”

The court had asserted that it would “not allow anyone on earth to taint the integrity of the institution and defame the institution”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government at the February 26 hearing, had also apologised to the Supreme Court. However, the bench had said that the press release then issued by the NCERT did not have a “single word of apology”.

The chapter in question had listed “corruption at various levels of the judiciary” among the challenges that the judicial system faces, according to The Indian Express.