The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the uncertain future of Delhi's 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library, registering a case over the absence of a relocation plan for the institution as Shastri Bhavan faces demolition under the Central Vista revamp.
Hearing on October 5
The matter, registered under the title "In Re: 135-Yr-Old Library 8.5 Lakh Books– And No Room In The New Central Vista Plan", will be heard on Monday, October 5, by a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva. The court's office report says the case was registered on October 3, after directions from the competent authority to initiate a fresh suo motu writ petition. The court acted on the back of a September 30 report in The Indian Express on the library's uncertain future.
135 years, 8.5 lakh books
The Central Secretariat Library was founded in 1891 as the Imperial Secretariat Library and moved to Delhi with the capital in 1911, finding its first home in the Old Secretariat Building in Civil Lines. It later shifted to the North Block and then to Shastri Bhavan, where it has remained since 1969. Spread across four floors and nearly 5,500 square metres, it holds more than 8.5 lakh books — including rare books, official records and gazetteers — making it the country's second-largest central government library after the National Library in Kolkata.
Two rooms 'insufficient'
The Express reported that on September 17, the Central Public Works Department wrote to all ministries and departments in Shastri Bhavan asking them to vacate "at the earliest" so the complex could be handed over by the end of September 2026 for construction work. Sources told the newspaper that in January, the Directorate of Estates under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry had allotted just two rooms — 300 square metres — at Kartavya Bhawan-2 for the library, an offer the Culture Ministry, which administers the institution, rejected as far from sufficient.
Ministry denies the charge
The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has denied that the library was left out of the redevelopment plans. In a post on X, it said that "contrary to a few reports, it is clarified that space for the Central Secretariat Library has been provided for in the Kartavya Path redevelopment plan" and that the construction process was underway.
Sources: The Indian Express, Mathrubhumi English
Hearing on October 5
The matter, registered under the title "In Re: 135-Yr-Old Library 8.5 Lakh Books– And No Room In The New Central Vista Plan", will be heard on Monday, October 5, by a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva. The court's office report says the case was registered on October 3, after directions from the competent authority to initiate a fresh suo motu writ petition. The court acted on the back of a September 30 report in The Indian Express on the library's uncertain future.
135 years, 8.5 lakh books
The Central Secretariat Library was founded in 1891 as the Imperial Secretariat Library and moved to Delhi with the capital in 1911, finding its first home in the Old Secretariat Building in Civil Lines. It later shifted to the North Block and then to Shastri Bhavan, where it has remained since 1969. Spread across four floors and nearly 5,500 square metres, it holds more than 8.5 lakh books — including rare books, official records and gazetteers — making it the country's second-largest central government library after the National Library in Kolkata.
Two rooms 'insufficient'
The Express reported that on September 17, the Central Public Works Department wrote to all ministries and departments in Shastri Bhavan asking them to vacate "at the earliest" so the complex could be handed over by the end of September 2026 for construction work. Sources told the newspaper that in January, the Directorate of Estates under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry had allotted just two rooms — 300 square metres — at Kartavya Bhawan-2 for the library, an offer the Culture Ministry, which administers the institution, rejected as far from sufficient.
Ministry denies the charge
The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has denied that the library was left out of the redevelopment plans. In a post on X, it said that "contrary to a few reports, it is clarified that space for the Central Secretariat Library has been provided for in the Kartavya Path redevelopment plan" and that the construction process was underway.
Sources: The Indian Express, Mathrubhumi English
