Supreme Court to hear case over 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library amid Central Vista redevelopment

The matter of the 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library and its relocation as part of the Central Vista redevelopment will come up before the Supreme Court on Monday, The Indian Express reported.

The case has been registered as “In Re: 135-Yr-Old Library 8.5 Lakh Books– And No Room In The New Central Vista Plan”. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva will hear it on October 5.

The issue is linked to the planned demolition of Shastri Bhawan, where the library has been located since 1969. The government had earlier been looking for a new space for the library, which has more than 8.5 lakh books.

The Central Secretariat Library was founded in 1891. It is the second-largest government library in India after the National Library in Kolkata.

The library is spread across four floors and covers nearly 5,500 square metres. Its collection includes rare books, official records and gazetteers. The oldest book in its rare-books section is a compilation of the writings of a French traveller dating back to 1702.

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The library is also used by government officials and students preparing for competitive examinations.

The library moved to Delhi in 1911 when the British government shifted the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. It was then known as the Imperial Secretariat Library and was first housed in the Old Secretariat Building in Civil Lines.

It later moved to North Block and then to Shastri Bhawan in 1969.

On September 17, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) asked all ministries and departments in Shastri Bhawan to vacate the building, along with their furniture, electronic items and other belongings.

The CPWD said the building “needs to be handed over… by the end of September 2026 for the commencement of the construction work”.

Space at Kartavya Bhawan-2

In January, the Directorate of Estates under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs allotted two rooms measuring 300 square metres at Kartavya Bhawan-2 for the library.

The Ministry of Culture, which runs the library, rejected the space, saying it was not enough.

However, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs later said that space had been provided for the library under the Kartavya Path redevelopment plan.

“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. The necessary process for construction of the library is underway,” the ministry said on X.