The 115-year iconic Old Secretariat in the national capital may soon get the tag of heritage site. The historic building, which hosted meetings of the first Parliament of independent India and witnessed the execution of freedom fighters, is currently the seat of Delhi Assembly.
Once an imperial symbol, the white semi-circular Vidhan Sabha, housed both the Central Legislative Council (today’s Parliament) and a temporary Central Secretariat when the capital of British India was shifted from Kolkata (then Calcutta) to Delhi in December 1911. The Old Secretariat (Delhi Vidhan Sabha) was the first modern building that came up after Delhi became the national capital.
Located on the right side while travelling from the ISBT towards the Delhi University, the building served as the seat of the Government of India for 14 years. It remained in use until 1926 when the administration shifted to the equally iconic South and North Blocks.
Unveiling the plan to convert the premises into a heritage building, Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta said that he would soon arrange a meeting with Union cultural minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to take the matter further.
The Old Secretariat was designed by E Montague Thomas in 1912, much before Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker came here to design buildings for the new capital of India. The building was completed in just eight months. The contractor, Seth Fateh Chand, worked tirelessly on a 24×7 basis to meet the deadline. Originally from Sukker (now in Sindh, Pakistan), he earned a reputation for honesty and quality workmanship, never compromising on quality of materials.
Soon after the 1911 Delhi Durbar wherein King George V made the announcement, then Viceroy Lord Hardinge shifted base from Calcutta and set up a temporary capital in north Delhi’s Civil Lines. The iconic building housed the Central Legislative Council from 1913 and 1926, with the legislators, including Moti Lal Nehru, Pt Madan Mohan Malviya and Lala Lajpat Rai taking part in discussions and debates that led to the creation of many of today’s Parliamentary procedures. Later, in 1926, the government allotted the central portion of the Old Secretariat, comprising the Assembly Hall and the adjacent rooms, to the Delhi University on rent after the Central Legislative Council was shifted to the Parliament House.
After Independence, the building saw a lull in activity until Delhi was granted an Assembly in 1952. However, this Assembly was disbanded in 1956.In 1966, the building became significant once again when Delhi got a Metropolitan Council. To this day, the council operates from the historic site.
This building, which could become the heritage monument, has been the seat of Delhi legislature since 1993. On March 15 1997, the statue of Chaudhary Brahm Prakash, Delhi’s first Chief Minister, was installed on the right side of the main gate. The central park has a granite plaque with the names of national leaders of the Legislative House in Delhi.
In 2022, the Delhi Assembly had plans to renovate the execution house located there and throw it open to the public along with a secret tunnel discovered in the premises in 2016. Since 2017, people from Delhi and other cities are allowed to visit the Delhi Assembly on January 26-27 and August 14-15 without any permission. The execution house is a two-room suite outside the assembly chamber that can be accessed via a wooden staircase. The rooms contain old pictures, files, and worn-out furniture.
Former Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel has spent years exploring the mysteries of this historic landmark. He had said: “Convicts were sent to the gallows here. After a British-era tunnel was found on the premises, a gallows room was also uncovered…. The building fell into disuse after 1926, and British administrators turned it into a court. Revolutionaries were tried here after being brought through the tunnel, and those convicted were executed.” The hidden tunnel, discovered within the premises, once transported revolutionaries from the Red Fort to stand trial and meet their fate.
Presently, Vithalbhai Patel’s statue, installed in 1989, was followed by Gandhi’s Dandi March statue in 1992. On March 15, 1997, the statue of Chaudhary Brahm Prakash, Delhi’s first Chief Minister, was unveiled on the right side of the main gate.
