New Delhi: Amid controversy over the proposal to teach Manusmriti to law students at Delhi University, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated on Friday that no controversial portions of any text will be included in the curriculum. He noted that Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh had already rejected the proposal on Thursday, affirming the government's commitment to upholding the true spirit of the Constitution.

"Yesterday, some information came to us that Manusmriti will be part of a Law Faculty course (in DU). I enquired and talked to Delhi University Vice Chancellor. He assured me that some law faculty members have proposed some changes in the jurisprudence chapter," Pradhan told reporters in Hyderabad.

"There is no endorsement of any such proposal in the Academic Council. Yesterday itself, the Vice Chancellor rejected that proposal. We all are committed to our Constitution, to futuristic approach. Government is committed to upholding the true spirit and letter of the Constitution. There is no question of including any controversial portion of any script," he said.

The proposal to teach Manusmriti to DU's LLB students was set to be discussed in an Academic Council meeting on Friday, sparking criticism from some faculty members. The Faculty of Law had sought approval from the university's highest decision-making body to revise the syllabus for first- and third-year students to include Manusmriti.

The syllabus changes for the jurisprudence paper pertained to semesters one and six of LLB. The proposed revisions included readings on Manusmriti—specifically "Manusmriti with the Manubhasya of Medhatithi" by G N Jha and "Commentary of Manu Smriti - Smritichandrika" by T Kristnasawmi Iyer.

However, the Vice Chancellor clarified on Thursday that these suggestions had been rejected and the manuscript would not be taught to the students. 

"A proposal by the Faculty of Law was submitted to Delhi University. In the proposal, they had suggested changes in the paper titled Jurisprudence. One of the changes was to include readings on Manusmriti. We have rejected both the suggested readings and the amendments proposed by the Faculty. Nothing of this sort will be taught to students," Singh had said in a video message shared by the varsity.

(PTI )