Supreme Court to hear case on relocation of Delhi’s 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is set to hear on October 5 a suo motu case concerning the proposed relocation of Delhi’s 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library (CSL), which houses more than 8.5 lakh books.

The case was taken up amid reports that the library had not been adequately accommodated in the redevelopment plans for the Central Vista.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva will hear the matter on Monday. It has been registered as “In Re: 135-yr-old library, 8.5 lakh books-and no room in the Central Vista plan”.

According to the court’s office report, the case was registered on October 3 following directions from the competent authority to initiate a fresh suo motu writ petition.

The development follows media reports about uncertainty surrounding the future of the library, which has been housed across four floors of Shastri Bhawan since 1969.

Reports had said the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) had allocated only two rooms for the library at the Kartavya Bhawan-2 complex, raising concerns about how its vast collection would be accommodated.

The Union housing ministry, however, has denied that the library was left out of the Central Vista redevelopment plans.

“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 ministry said in a post on X.

It added that the necessary process for construction of the library was already underway.

The Supreme Court’s intervention comes as questions remain over the future location and accommodation of one of Delhi’s oldest government libraries and its collection of more than 8.5 lakh books.