Senior Advocate Indira Jaising urged the Supreme Court to grant lawyers access to the exclusive Judges’ Library, revealing that her past requests had been ignored. Highlighting financial struggles in keeping up with legal publications, she even requested Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to support the cause. Justice Oka’s lighthearted response—”He has agreed”—and Mehta’s brief “Yes, yes” sparked laughter in the courtroom, making the moment go viral.
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NEW DELHI: Senior Advocate Indira Jaising on Friday requested the Supreme Court to allow lawyers to use the Judges’ Library.
She expressed sadness that despite writing to many Chief Justices to open the library for lawyers, her letters were simply ignored and thrown into the “dustbin.”
The Supreme Court Judges’ Library, which started in 1937 in the small Princess Chamber of the old Parliament House, has grown tremendously. Today, it is the largest legal library in Asia.
Now, the library is located in a newly built, modern four-story complex spread over 12,000 square feet in Block A of the Supreme Court’s additional building.
The library contains a massive collection of 3,78,000 materials, including books, journals, monographs, law journals, statutes, committee reports, state legislations, parliamentary debates, state manuals, and local acts.
It subscribes to 131 journals, out of which 107 are Indian and 24 are foreign. Additionally, it gets 19 newspapers and 8 magazines.
“I have written letters to various Chief Justices (to give lawyers access to the judges’ library). Unfortunately, My Lords, my letters are going to the dustbin,”
-Jaising said while addressing a Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and AG Masih on Friday.
The discussion happened during a case about hiding important facts in remission pleas. The conversation unexpectedly shifted to the topic of access to the Judges’ Library.
As the court was finishing a discussion on whether the process of selecting Senior Advocates needs to be changed, Jaising spoke about the library.
“Your Lordships’ Library is one of the best in the world. It is not accessible to lawyers like us,”
-she stated as the hearing was about to end.
She also highlighted the financial challenges many lawyers face in keeping up with legal publications.
“I am willing to pay that fee, My Lord, for access to that library. Lawyers should be given access to the library because, for one, I cannot afford to subscribe to all the publications.”
-she said.
ALSO READ: Jaising Raises Concerns of Sexism, Calls for CJI’s Intervention
Looking towards Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, with whom she has often had legal debates, Jaising made an unusual suggestion.
“Maybe Mr. Mehta can write that letter on our behalf, asking for us to be given access to the Judges’ Library,”
-she proposed.
For a moment, there was silence in the courtroom. Then, Justice Oka broke the silence with a smile.
“He has agreed,”
-Justice Oka said, looking at SG Mehta.
SG Mehta simply replied:
“Yes, yes.”
This led to laughter in the courtroom.
But Jaising was not ready to give up yet.
She turned to Mehta once again and made one last request.
“Mr. Mehta, please.”
With that, the court ended its proceedings for the day.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Indira Jaising
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