Punjab textbook authority has been handed a seven-day ultimatum by private publishers, who have threatened contempt-of-court action unless it stops producing and publishing textbooks under its own name, a practice they say violates a 2015 Lahore High Court ruling.
The legal notice, sent to the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Authority (PCTA), has unsettled officials within the organisation, according to sources familiar with the matter.
It invokes a High Court judgment that barred the authority from the practice, a decision upheld in 2016 when the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board’s intra-court appeal against it was dismissed.
Publishers argue that PCTA has continued the practice regardless, and are now pressing for compliance within the notice period. Sources said that if PCTA fails to act and the dispute returns to court, the authority could face significant legal exposure.
The timing adds pressure to an already sensitive project: PCTA is currently developing textbooks for grades one through five under a new curriculum scheduled for rollout in 2027. With the legal notice now in play, questions are mounting over whether that preparation and publication process can proceed as planned.
