Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on relocation of 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library

The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Centre on the proposed relocation of the 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library in Delhi, which houses over 8.5 lakh books, amid reports that no space has been allocated for it in the new Central Vista Plan. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice to the Centre and asked it to file an affidavit giving full details of the area which would be allotted for the library along with the actual layout plan. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the Centre.

The top court was hearing a suo moto case titled 'In Re: 135-yr-old library, 8.5 lakh books-and no room in the new Central Vista plan'. This comes in the wake of recent media reports highlighting that the library, currently spread over four floors in Shastri Bhawan since 1969, was facing uncertainty as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had allotted only two rooms in the Kartavya Bhawan-2 complex. The Union housing ministry clarified that space for the library had been provided in the Central Vista redevelopment plan.