Parliament to take up SC judges, exam reform bills today
The Lok Sabha took up the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 for consideration on the day's agenda.
The Rajya Sabha simultaneously took up the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
Ministers laid several papers before the Houses, and reports from parliamentary committees were presented, as part of routine legislative business preceding the day's substantive debates.
Proceedings in both Houses were scheduled to commence at 11 am, consistent with the standard sitting hours followed during Parliament's Monsoon Session.
Sanctioned Strength versus Working Strength of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 raises the Court's sanctioned strength (the statutory ceiling on how many judges may serve) from 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice of India. This is a distinct concept from the Court's working strength — the number of judges actually sitting at any given time, which is almost always lower than the sanctioned ceiling because of retirements, resignations, and the time lag before new appointments are made.
Key Details
- Sanctioned strength is fixed by Parliament through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, as permitted under Article 124(1); it sets the maximum, not a guaranteed minimum, number of judges.
- Working strength fluctuates continuously — for instance, retirements in mid-2026 (including two judges retiring within weeks of each other) briefly pushed vacancies to three even after a batch of new appointments, showing that raising the sanctioned ceiling does not by itself close the gap with working strength.
- Filling the gap between sanctioned and working strength depends on the Collegium recommending names and the government notifying appointments under Article 124(2) — a separate process from the legislative act of raising the ceiling.
The Bill being taken up in the Lok Sabha only raises the statutory ceiling to 38; translating that into additional judges actually sitting on the bench requires subsequent Collegium recommendations and appointments, a distinction UPSC frequently tests to check whether students conflate "more sanctioned seats" with "more judges at work."
MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — Classification and Payment Reform
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 amends the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 — the primary law defining and regulating this business category, which is significant for GS3 economy questions on classification criteria and delayed-payment protections for small businesses.
Key Details
- Under the composite classification criteria in force since 1 July 2020, an enterprise is Micro if investment in plant and machinery/equipment does not exceed Rs 1 crore and turnover does not exceed Rs 5 crore; Small if investment does not exceed Rs 10 crore and turnover does not exceed Rs 50 crore; and Medium if investment does not exceed Rs 50 crore and turnover does not exceed Rs 250 crore — both investment and turnover limits must be satisfied simultaneously, and the manufacturing/services distinction was removed in this 2020 revision.
- The 2026 Amendment Bill targets delayed payments to MSME suppliers: courts hearing challenges to arbitral awards in favour of an MSME must direct payment of at least 50% of the awarded amount if the challenge remains pending beyond six months, and a buyer contesting such an award must deposit 75% of the awarded amount before the appeal is heard.
- It mandates that central public sector enterprises route invoice settlements for MSME procurement through the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), a platform for financing trade receivables, and provides for a national digital platform for free, voluntary MSME registration.
- The Bill also decriminalises certain procedural contraventions under the Act, replacing conviction-based fines with a graded penalty structure that begins with a warning for a first offence.
This Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha shortly before the day covered here and represents the government's response to chronic delayed-payment complaints from small enterprises, a recurring MSME-sector governance issue distinct from the judiciary and exam-integrity Bills on the same day's agenda.
Papers Laid on the Table and Parliamentary Committee Reports
Before substantive Bills are debated, both Houses transact routine business that includes Ministers "laying papers on the table" (tabling official documents, notifications, or annual reports as required by law) and the presentation of reports by Parliamentary Committees — a procedural stage distinct from, and preceding, debate on the day's legislative agenda.
Key Details
- Each House has a Committee on Papers Laid on the Table (constituted in the Lok Sabha in 1975 and in the Rajya Sabha in 1982) that scrutinises whether papers tabled by Ministers comply with the relevant constitutional or statutory requirement, whether there was unreasonable delay, and whether the paper was laid in both English and Hindi.
- Reports of Parliamentary Standing Committees examining ministries, or of Select/Joint Committees examining specific Bills, are similarly presented to the House as part of this preliminary business before the House proceeds to scheduled legislative or discussion items.
- This is a distinct constitutional function from the passage of Bills itself; laying papers and presenting committee reports discharges the executive's accountability obligations to the legislature on an ongoing basis, independent of whether new legislation is being considered that day.
The reference to Ministers laying papers and committee reports being presented reflects this standard preliminary business that routinely precedes substantive Bill consideration, as occurred before the Houses proceeded to the Supreme Court judges, exam-integrity, and MSME Bills that day.
- Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026: raises sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 (including CJI); taken up in Lok Sabha.
- MSMED classification (effective 1 July 2020): Micro — up to Rs 1 crore investment / Rs 5 crore turnover; Small — up to Rs 10 crore / Rs 50 crore; Medium — up to Rs 50 crore / Rs 250 crore.
- MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026: introduced in Rajya Sabha on 28 July 2026; mandates minimum 50% payment release on pending arbitral-award challenges beyond six months, and a 75% pre-deposit for buyers appealing such awards.
- Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026: taken up in Rajya Sabha the same day.
- Committee on Papers Laid on the Table: Lok Sabha (constituted 1975, 15 members) and Rajya Sabha (constituted 1982, 10 members) scrutinise papers tabled by Ministers for statutory compliance and timeliness.