The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar has ended its association with guest faculty member Michel Danino, two days after the Supreme Court directed governments, universities, and public institutions to distance themselves from individuals linked to a now-withdrawn school textbook that referred to "corruption in the judiciary".
Confirming the move to NDTV, IIT Gandhinagar Director Rajat Moona said, "Danino is no longer associated with IIT Gandhinagar."
The Supreme Court earlier this week ordered the Centre, states, Union Territories, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), and universities to exclude Danino, educator Suparna Diwakar, and legal researcher Alok Prasanna Kumar from any role in preparing academic curricula.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, said the three should not be associated "in any manner" with the preparation or finalisation of textbooks meant for students.
The direction came amid controversy over an NCERT Class 8 social science textbook (Part 2), released on February 23, which contained a chapter referring to corruption within the judiciary. The book was withdrawn a day later after objections were raised. Of the 82,440 copies printed, 38 had already been sold before the recall and were later retrieved following the court's order on February 27.
At IIT Gandhinagar, Danino had been associated with the Centre for Archaeological Sciences as visiting faculty and taught courses linked to Indian Knowledge Systems, including "Perspectives on Indian Civilization" in a master's programme.
Professor Moona clarified that the institute's course curriculum does not rely on textbooks authored by Danino. "Danino was earlier associated with the Centre for Archaeological Sciences at IIT Gandhinagar. We will take the necessary steps to ensure the information on our website accurately reflects the current position," he said.
Despite the institute confirming that the association has ended, Danino's profile was still visible on the IIT Gandhinagar website on Saturday, describing him as "an Indian citizen" and "an independent student of Indian civilization".
Born in France in 1956, Danino studied physics and engineering before moving to India in 1977, inspired by the teachings of philosopher and yogi Sri Aurobindo. He has since written extensively on Indian civilisation and had been affiliated with IIT Gandhinagar since 2011.
NDTV reached out to Danino for a response to the Supreme Court's order, but he declined to comment at this stage.
NDTV had earlier reported that the controversial chapter in the withdrawn textbook was drafted by a committee that included a lawyer but was not reviewed by members of the legal fraternity before publication.
