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Informist, Tuesday, May 5, 2026

 

--Cabinet OKs Bill proposing to raise SC strength to 37 judges, excluding CJI

 

NEW DELHI – In a move to curb the growing backlog of cases, the Union Cabinet Tuesday approved a proposal to introduce The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, to raise the sanctioned strength of the country's apex court to 38 judges from the current 34. The increase in number of judges is expected to help the top court function more efficiently and ensure quicker justice, the government said. 

 

The government has from time to time increased the strength of the top court. In 2019, it had increased the number of judges in the court to 34. Currently, there are 92,835 cases pending before the Supreme Court. Of these, 72,341 are civil cases and 20,494 are criminal cases.

 

According to Article 124(1) of the Constitution, there shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other judges. Thereafter, a law to increase the strength of the Supreme Court was enacted in 1956, which provided for the maximum number of judges, excluding the chief justice, to be 10. Since then, various amendments have been passed to increase the strength of the Supreme Court.

 

Earlier, Justice Surya Kant, the chief justice of India, had spoken about an obvious but daunting priority for his tenure. He had identified reducing the Supreme Court's huge backlog of cases as his top concern before demitting office on Feb. 9, 2027. He had said the listing of cases has often been inadequate and matters are multiplying faster than the court can process them.

 

The huge pendency in the apex court results in delays in clarifying questions of constitutional law and significant legal questions. It also delays justice for litigants seeking final relief on matters of appellate jurisdiction. Following the government's move, the court is expected to be able to reduce its backlog and prevent it reaching six figures. The current year alone has witnessed litigants filing 27,450 cases in the apex court, while the court disposed of 26,466 cases.

 

India currently has one of the lowest judge-to-population ratios globally with 21 judges per million people, less than even half the 50 per million recommended by the Law Commission in a report published as far back as 1987. In 2024, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, then chief justice of India, had remarked, "We simply need more judges, we are engaging with the government to increase the strength of the judiciary at all levels."  End 

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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