Room that saw Empire and Republic at work: Chamber of Princes gets ready for future with Commonwealth Speakers’ conference

Lord Mountbatten addressing the members of the Chamber of Princes in the 1940s. (Wikimedia Commons)

It is a room that witnessed several moments of history during the rule of the British Empire, where the Supreme Court functioned till 1958, and which now serves as the Parliament Library. Now, the Chamber of Princes in the old Parliament House, also known as Narendra Mandal, will be the venue of the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) that begins on Wednesday.

The British set up the Chamber in 1920 under the Government of India Act, 1919, as a body for the princely states that could raise issues they deemed fit with the British Crown. It began its sittings the following year, with the Viceroy presiding, and continued to function till 1947.

Historians M N Kaul and S L Shakdher write that the Supreme Court functioned out of the chamber from Independence till August 1958, when it moved to its present location on Tilak Marg. Thereafter, the design of the Chamber was slightly altered and its flooring was raised so as to be in level with the corridor. Thus the Chamber with the rooms skirting its corridor was remodelled to serve the purpose of a spacious reading room as part of the Library and, therefore, came to be known as the Library Hall,” they write.

According to the Supreme Court website, the court was inaugurated on January 28, 1950, “in the Chamber of Princes in the old Parliament building where the Federal Court of India sat for 12 years from 1937 to 1950”.

The Chamber, still replete with more than 100 gilded designs representing the emblems of the erstwhile princely states, will serve as the venue for workshops and seminars hosted by the Lok Sabha Secretariat after the CSPOC, sources said. The renovations, they said, began last month.

“The revival of the Chamber is part of ongoing renovations; Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to address a gathering there during the CSPOC. Going forward, the hall will be utilised more frequently and for various purposes ranging from legislative workshops and seminars to media interactions,” said a source.

A total of 61 speakers and presiding officers are expected to attend CSPOC. Being hosted by India after 16 years — the country hosted the conferences in 1971, 1986, and 2010 — this year’s edition will see the highest-ever participation by member nations.

The conference seeks to “uphold and strengthen impartiality in Parliaments of Commonwealth nations, and empower parliamentary democracy and institutions” and, this year, will focus on “the use of AI and social media” in parliamentary functioning, promoting innovation and citizen participation, and security, health, and well-being of MPs.