The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Central government in a suo motu case initiated by it with regard to the proposed relocation of the 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library (CSL) from Shastri Bhawan in New Delhi, which is slated for demolition as part of the Central Vista redevelopment project.
A bench of Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva asked the government to file a detailed affidavit within three weeks, setting out the layout plan and full details of the area that will be allotted for housing the library.
Pertinently, the Court also appointed Senior Advocate Haripriya Padmanabhan as amicus curiae to assist the Court.
"Issue notice returnable in 3 weeks. Learned Additional Solicitor General appearing for the Union of India accepts notice. A detailed affidavit shall be filed indicating the proposed plan. It shall set out the full details of the area that will be allotted for housing the library, along with the actual layout plan. The affidavit shall also indicate whether the proposed space would be adequate not only to house the books presently stored in Shastri Bhawan, but also those kept in RK Puram. We request Senior Advocate Hari Priya Padmanabhan to assist the court," the order said
CSL, which functions under the Union Ministry of Culture, was established as the Imperial Secretariat Library in Calcutta in 1891.
According to its website, the CSL was moved to Delhi after the capital was shifted in 1911 and has been housed at Shastri Bhawan since 1969. It is the second-largest Central government library after the National Library in Kolkata.
The library currently occupies around 5,500 square metres across four floors and has a collection of more than 8.5 lakh volumes, including rare books, government publications, official records and gazetteers.
The Culture Ministry initially sought approximately 5,466 square metres for the library in the redeveloped Central Secretariat.
Concerns over its future arose after the Directorate of Estates under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) proposed allotting two rooms, measuring around 300 square metres at Kartavya Bhawan-2, for the library.
The Culture Ministry subsequently informed MoHUA in February that the proposed space was inadequate to house the library's complete collection and facilities and that complete relocation to the allotted space was not feasible.
The Court initiated the suo motu case after certain retired judges flagged the issue.
"The matter was flagged by retired judges. You (Central government) are leaving out 2 lakhs books in RK puram obviously. You will have to file a proper affidavit. We will ask a senior counsel to assist us so that you can place all relevant material before us," the Court said today.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the Central government.