SC steps in over space crunch facing 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of concerns surrounding the relocation of the 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library, one of the country’s largest government libraries, as its present home at Shastri Bhawan faces demolition under the Central Vista redevelopment project. The court registered the case on October 3 and will hear it on Monday, October 5.

The matter, titled In Re: 135-Yr-Old Library 8.5 Lakh Books – And No Room In The New Central Vista Plan, will come before a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva. A Supreme Court Registry note said the competent authority had directed registration of a fresh suo motu writ petition.

8.5 lakh books

Established in 1891, the Central Secretariat Library houses more than 8.5 lakh volumes, including rare books, government publications, official records and gazetteers. It is the second-largest Central government library after the National Library in Kolkata and currently occupies nearly 5,500 square metres spread across four floors of Shastri Bhawan.

Its collection includes historically significant material used by government officials, researchers and students preparing for competitive examinations. Among its rare holdings is a compilation of writings by a French traveller dating to 1702.

Shastri Bhawan to go

The immediate concern arose from plans to demolish and reconstruct Shastri Bhawan as part of the wider Central Vista redevelopment. The Central Public Works Department wrote to ministries and departments in the complex on September 17, asking them to remove furniture, electronic equipment and other belongings and hand over vacant possession for redevelopment.

The library has operated from Shastri Bhawan since 1969. Its relocation presented a substantially different challenge from shifting an ordinary government office because of the scale and historical value of its collection, along with requirements for reading areas, storage and preservation facilities.

Two rooms offered

The space issue had been under discussion well before the latest vacation order. In 2023, the Culture Ministry sought approximately 5,466 square metres for the library in the redeveloped Central Secretariat, broadly equivalent to its existing space.

In January this year, however, the Directorate of Estates informed the Culture Ministry that space had been approved for the library in two rooms on the ground floor of Kartavya Bhawan-2. The proposed area was about 300 square metres — a fraction of the library’s existing footprint.

The Culture Ministry rejected that arrangement in February, saying the space was inadequate to accommodate the complete collection and facilities and that a full relocation was consequently not feasible.

Ministry disputes ‘no room’ claim

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has, however, disputed reports suggesting that the redevelopment plan contains no space for the library. It said space for the Central Secretariat Library had been provided under the Kartavya Path redevelopment plan and that the necessary process for constructing the facility was underway.

The ministry has not publicly disclosed detailed specifications of the proposed new facility in the clarification cited by reports. This leaves the question of the library’s immediate accommodation and whether the eventual facility will meet its space and preservation requirements at the centre of the issue now before the Supreme Court.

A library that moved with the capital

The Central Secretariat Library began life as the Imperial Secretariat Library in Calcutta in 1891. When the capital of British India was shifted to Delhi, the library also moved, initially operating from the Old Secretariat Building in Civil Lines.

It was subsequently shifted to North Block after the new administrative complex around Raisina Hill was constructed, before moving to Shastri Bhawan in 1969. More than five decades later, the Central Vista redevelopment has again raised the question of where the institution and its extensive collection will be housed.

SC hearing Monday

The Supreme Court’s intervention has now placed the issue of adequate accommodation and preservation of the collection under judicial scrutiny. The hearing on Monday is expected to bring greater clarity on the government’s relocation plan and arrangements for the library as redevelopment of Shastri Bhawan proceeds.