Supreme Court judges library Asia's largest law library; acts as research hotline for all apex court judges

Supreme Court judges library which began functioning in 1937 from the modest Princess chamber of the old Parliament House has since made colossal strides and now stand as the biggest legal library in Asia. .It is now in housed in swanky newly constructed four-storied state of the art complex spanning 12,000 square feet in block A of the new additional building complex of the Supreme CourtThe main building of the Supreme Court which still houses the two floors of library is functioning to accommodate the immediate needs..The new library complex was inaugurated on April 24 by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud. A gleaning white statue of the Goddess of Justice greets visitors right at the entrance.The sculpture by artist Vinod Goswami was done on the special request made by the CJI..But what makes a Supreme Court judges library different? According to the Chief Librarian, Dr. Jyotsna Eveline Reuben, the judges library is a grid of libraries connecting the courtrooms and judges residence along with the main library building. "Primarily a judges library so we cater to only judges. It is the largest legal library in Asia. It functions as a grid of libraries as well. There are 17 courts functioning currently, each court has an inside library and per court there are 2,500 books and there are 34 residential libraries. In each of the residential libraries around 2,500 book are kept in each of them," Reuben told Bar & Bench. .It acts like a 24x7 hotline for the judges so that any research being sought is provided instantly along with books."We are sitting on hotlines and we are connected to the courts. When courts are functioning we have two members from the library sitting in each of the 17 courts. They immediately take a requisition and whatever is asked is given then and there... there are 363 bare acts in each court and they are trained to immediately face the query and if they are not immediately able to do it, we have to answer the court within 2 to 5 minutes and we cannot make them wait. We are an instant research tool for the court and we can never say no to the judge, If we don't have a book, we make sure we get it by an interlibrary loan," Reuben added..The Chief Librarian added that the library has been kept open even during the wee hours of the morning and late nights when benches assembles or judges called for material. One of such instances was when the Supreme Court sat at midnight to hear the last appeal by the parliament convict Afzal Guru."Even during the last hearing before hanging of Afzal Guru we were working at midnight and providing assistance to the court," Reuben added. .The library has a total of 3,78,000 of material, which includes books, journals, monographs, law journals, statutes, committee reports, state legislations, parliamentary debates and state manuals, local acts. The library subscribes to 131 journals. Out of that, 107 are Indian journals, while 24 are foreign journals. Besides, it subscribes to 19 newspapers and 8 magazines..One of the unique tasks performed by the judges library is also keep the Chief Justice of India informed of all legal news published by the media. The groundwork for the same begins close to 4 am every day. Three teams go through all the e-newspapers everyday by 4 am, take out all the law news, compile them and bind it together and ensure it is placed before the CJI by 6:30 am everyday. The final compilation is sent to the compiler by 6:15 am and then it is sent to the CJI's office. A physical form is also sent but that happens at around 10:30 am..The library which has a dedicated team of 80-85 staff members out of which 20 are professionals, are also entrusted with immediate updation of statutes with amendments even before they are incorporated in updated editions. "When bare acts are not published on time, the legislation sections keeps an act up to date. When an amendment takes place... each of them are photocopied and then added along with slips in each of those books, all in the main library, in the courtroom, and in the residential libraries," a library official said..The library also houses a special portrait of eminent jurist and Senior Advocate late Soli Sorabjee and also has a section named after him - Soli Sorabjee Bibliotheca. Family members of Sorabjee donated 5,000 of his books to the library..Being a specialised library, all the professional staff members have completed Masters in library sciences are pursuing their LLM.Junior members of the staff are law graduates while those holding senior posts are doctorate holders. "We are not just librarians, we are professionals and researchers also and we have done qualifications commensurate with requirements specified by the judges," Reuben told Bar & Bench.