Days after a Class XII Physical Education textbook stating that body measurements of 36-24-36 were the best figures for women sparked widespread outrage, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has filed a case in the Preet Vihar police station against the private publisher of the book and the author.
The accused — New Saraswati House (India) Pvt Ltd, which published the book titled Health and Physical Education and the author Dr V.K. Sharma — have been booked under Section 6 (indecent representation of women (Prohibition) Act 1986) and relevant sections of the IPC, the police said Dr. Sharma is a professor in the Department of Physical Education, DAV College, Cheeka (Kaithal) in Haryana.
Registering an FIR, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Omvir Singh told The Hindu that they would seize all copies of the book in circulation. “The investigation has begun and in due course, all the accused in the case will be arrested,” he said.
“The action was taken after several complaints were reported on Wednesday. We strongly condemn the view and we issued a clarification as well saying that the Board has not prescribed the controversial book,” said CBSE Public Relations Officer Rama Sharma.
The Board had also set up a committee to check the contents of the book and the members concluded that the text was not in consonance with the spirit of the syllabus. The panel also said the publisher and author have committed criminal misconduct by writing and selling the books to students.
“The publisher has also caused loss of reputation, goodwill and credibility of CBSE,” the Board statement said.
