SC orders status quo on Karol Bagh building housing Delhi Public Library

The Supreme Court Tuesday ordered that status quo be maintained regarding a building which houses Delhi Public Library (DPL) and faces demolition threat due to its dilapidated condition.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also ordered that no portion of the property at Karol Bagh here be demolished.

The bench also issued notice on the plea filed by Delhi Library Board challenging the Delhi High Court's September 10 order by which six months time was given to DPL to relocate its branch to another location accessible to general public.

"In the meanwhile, the parties will maintain status quo and will not demolish any portion of the property in dispute," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.

In its order, the high court had said that since the plea before it primarily pertained to preservation of books at DPL branch in Karol Bagh, it would not interfere in the dispute over the building where the library was housed since 1954.

The high court's order had come on a petition against the North Delhi Municipal Corporation's notices to the library to vacate the premises, which according to the civic body, was structurally unfit and dangerous.

Funded by the Ministry of Culture, the Delhi Public Library is an autonomous body which has around 45 branches and mobile libraries across Delhi.

The first Delhi Public Library was started by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru across the Old Delhi Railway Station in 1951.

The library was issued two notices by the corporation asking it to vacate so that the building could be demolished.