The Supreme Court on Monday, 5 October 2026, asked the Union government to file a detailed affidavit within three weeks on where the 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library will go once Shastri Bhawan in New Delhi is pulled down for the Central Vista redevelopment project.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice in a suo motu case that the court took up after retired judges flagged the issue. It appointed senior advocate Haripriya Padmanabhan as amicus curiae and listed the case for 16 November.
Why the Central Secretariat Library move worries the court
The library, which comes under the Ministry of Culture, holds more than 8.5 lakh volumes, including rare books, gazetteers and official records, across about 5,500 square metres on four floors of Shastri Bhawan. Reports said it was told on 17 September to vacate by 30 September.
The bench questioned a proposal to house it in two rooms at Kartavya Bhavan. “It is a library that dates back to 1891, with writings from 1702,” the judges remarked, according to The Hindu. They also pointed out that more than two lakh books from its regional languages section have been packed in boxes at an office in R.K. Puram for about 15 years.
Centre says a bigger space is planned
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the court that an area of about 5,200 sq ft over two floors was being planned. The bench still asked for a formal affidavit with full layout plans and the real area left for storing books once conference rooms and other facilities are counted. The order also asks whether the new space can take the books kept at R.K. Puram.
Bar & Bench reported that the Culture Ministry had told the housing ministry in February that the two rooms, measuring about 300 square metres, were not enough for the full collection. On 1 October the housing ministry said on X that space for the library had been provided in the Kartavya Path redevelopment plan, but did not say where.
A library with a long history
The library began in Calcutta in 1891 as the Imperial Secretariat Library and moved to Delhi after the capital shifted in 1911. It was later housed in North Block and has been at Shastri Bhawan since 1969. It is the second-largest Central government library after the National Library in Kolkata, and officials and students preparing for competitive exams use it regularly.
Source: The Hindu, Bar & Bench
Photo: Pinakpani / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized)
Today’s News 6 Oct 2026 · 30 stories
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