• Source:JND

The Union Cabinet, led by PM Narendra Modi, cleared increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court by 4, taking the total strength to 37 (excluding the CJI) from 33 at present. The move aims to boost judicial capacity and dispose of cases quickly.

Cabinet has also cleared submission of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 to the Parliament, and the bill would amend the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 to provide for the appointment of 4 more judges to the SC of India.

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Briefing the media, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated the move to empower the Supreme Court and fast-track cases that have stacked up due to pending litigation. Costs will be covered by the Consolidated Fund of India for salaries of judges, staff and infrastructure.

The Parliament has the power to decide the number of judges that can serve on the apex court by way of Article 124 (1) of the Constitution of India. The clause states that the number of Supreme Court judges may be increased by Parliament legislation to that effect if needed.

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The first legislated power to provide for the number of judges who may sit and act as judges of the Supreme Court of India was the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. This was fixed at 10 at the time (excluding the CJI), and it was passed. It was increased to 13 in 1960, 17 in 1977, 25 in 1986, 30 in 2008 and 33 in 2019.

With this, another step is being taken by the govt to increase the number of SC judges to handle cases better.


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