Parliament Monsoon Session 2026 Day 9 Live Updates: Lok Sabha to consider Bill raising Supreme Court judges’ strength to 38
The Lok Sabha took up for consideration the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, which raises the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The Bill seeks Parliament's legislative approval for changes already made through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, issued on May 16, 2026, and now due to lapse unless replaced by an Act.
The stated rationale is the rising backlog of cases before the apex court — over 92,000 cases were pending as of January 1, 2026.
The increase does not require a constitutional amendment; it is carried out through an ordinary law amending the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, as permitted under the relevant constitutional provision.
Article 124 and the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956
Article 124(1) of the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court of India and states that it shall consist of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, not more than seven other judges. This provision deliberately leaves the exact judge strength to ordinary parliamentary legislation rather than fixing it in the Constitution itself, allowing flexibility to match rising caseloads without needing a constitutional amendment.
Key Details
- Parliament exercises this power through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, which fixes the sanctioned strength of judges (excluding the CJI); the Act has been amended multiple times to raise this ceiling.
- Because Article 124(1) itself authorises Parliament to fix the number "by law," changing the judge strength needs only a simple/ordinary majority Act of Parliament, not the special majority required for constitutional amendments under Article 368.
- Supreme Court judges are appointed by the President under Article 124(2), following the collegium system evolved through the Second and Third Judges Cases (1993 and 1998).
The 2026 Bill is a straightforward amendment to the 1956 Act's numerical ceiling, following the same legislative route used in every previous increase — it converts a temporary ordinance into a permanent statutory change.
History of Supreme Court Judge Strength Increases
The sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court has been raised periodically since 1950 to keep pace with rising litigation, each time through an amendment to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 (or its predecessor arrangement in 1950).
Key Details
- 1950: 8 judges (including CJI) at the Court's inception.
- 1956: increased to 11.
- 1960: increased to 14.
- 1978: increased to 18.
- 1986: increased to 26.
- 2009: increased to 31.
- 2019: increased to 34 (the strength prevailing before this 2026 amendment).
- 2026: proposed increase to 38 (37 judges plus the CJI), via ordinance followed by this amendment Bill.
The 2026 increase continues this decades-long pattern of episodic strength hikes; each earlier increase, like this one, was justified primarily by pendency of cases and workload pressure on the apex court, making this a recurring, testable current-affairs-meets-polity theme.
Ordinance-Making Power and Legislative Ratification
An Ordinance issued by the President under Article 123 of the Constitution has the same force as an Act of Parliament but is temporary — it must be laid before both Houses of Parliament and lapses six weeks from Parliament's reassembly unless replaced by a regular Act, or it can cease earlier through disapproval resolutions or withdrawal.
Key Details
- Ordinances can be issued only when Parliament is not in session and the President is satisfied that circumstances require immediate action (on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers).
- The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 was promulgated on May 16, 2026, to immediately raise judge strength ahead of the monsoon session; the present Bill is the mandatory legislative follow-up to keep that change permanent.
- Repeated reliance on ordinances instead of prior legislation has previously drawn scrutiny in Parliament and from constitutional commentators regarding the ordinary legislative process, though ordinance re-promulgation itself was held impermissible in D.C. Wadhwa v. State of Bihar (1987).
This Bill illustrates the standard constitutional sequence — urgent ordinance first, followed by parliamentary ratification — through which the executive and legislature jointly alter the Supreme Court's sanctioned strength.
- Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026: raises sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 judges, including the CJI (i.e., 37 puisne judges plus the CJI).
- Replaces the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, promulgated on May 16, 2026.
- Cases pending before the Supreme Court: over 92,000 (92,101) as of January 1, 2026, cited as the justification for the increase.
- Last previous increase: 2019, from 31 to 34 judges.
- Legal basis: Article 124(1) (Supreme Court composition) read with the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956; requires only an ordinary parliamentary majority, not a constitutional amendment.