Rajya Sabha passes by voice vote bill to raise Supreme Court judge strength
The Rajya Sabha passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 by voice vote, completing Parliament's approval after the Lok Sabha had already cleared it
The Bill replaces the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, which had been promulgated in May 2026 to raise the sanctioned strength on an interim basis
The legislation raises the Supreme Court's sanctioned judge strength to 38 (37 judges plus the Chief Justice of India), up from the previous ceiling of 34 (33 plus CJI) fixed in 2019
The increase followed a formal request from the Chief Justice of India citing rising case filings and pendency, and is intended to expedite case disposal and give the Chief Justice greater flexibility in constituting benches, including larger benches for constitutional matters
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956
Article 124(1) of the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court with the Chief Justice of India and "such number of other Judges as Parliament may by law prescribe" — the Constitution itself does not fix a number, leaving Parliament free to revise the sanctioned strength through ordinary legislation. The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 is the enabling statute under which Parliament has periodically raised this ceiling.
Key Details
- Original 1956 Act: 10 judges (excluding the CJI)
- Successive increases (each figure excludes CJI): 13 (1960), 17 (1977), 25 (1986), 30 (2009), 33 (2019), 37 (2026)
- Passed as ordinary legislation requiring only a simple majority, since Article 124(1) does not entrench a fixed judge count in the constitutional text
- The 2026 change was first effected through an ordinance under Article 123, then converted into a permanent Act by both Houses
The August 2026 Bill is the seventh revision of the sanctioned strength since the original 1956 Act and the first increase since 2019, formally converting the ordinance into permanent law.
Ordinances and Article 123 — Ordinance-to-Act Conversion
Article 123 empowers the President to promulgate ordinances when Parliament is not in session, acting on the aid and advice of the Union Cabinet. An ordinance carries the same force as an Act of Parliament but must be laid before both Houses on reassembly and lapses six weeks after reassembly unless replaced by an Act or withdrawn earlier.
Key Details
- The ordinance route was used because the Chief Justice's request for expansion — citing a backlog exceeding 93,000 pending cases — required judges to be appointed without waiting for the next parliamentary session
- Maximum life of an ordinance without parliamentary ratification: six weeks from reassembly of Parliament, per Article 123(2)(a)
- The ordinance-making power is subject to judicial review; in D.C. Wadhwa v. State of Bihar (1987), the Supreme Court held that repeated re-promulgation of ordinances without seeking legislative approval amounts to a fraud on the Constitution
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 replaces the May 2026 ordinance with a permanent statute, following the standard ordinance-to-Act conversion route mandated by Article 123.
Constitution Benches and Article 145(3)
Article 145(3) requires that any case involving a "substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution," or a Presidential reference under Article 143, be heard by a bench of at least five judges — known as a Constitution Bench. A larger sanctioned strength gives the Chief Justice, who holds the administrative power to constitute benches and assign cases, more judges available to run multiple Constitution Benches concurrently.
Key Details
- Minimum size of a Constitution Bench: 5 judges (Article 145(3))
- Constituting benches and allocating cases is an exclusively administrative power of the Chief Justice (the "master of the roster"), distinct from the collegium's role in appointments
- A higher sanctioned strength does not by itself mean more judges are appointed — actual appointments still proceed through the collegium consultation process
The Bill's stated aim of enabling more Constitution Benches links the judge-strength increase directly to the Article 145(3) requirement for larger benches on constitutional questions.
- New sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court: 38 judges (37 plus CJI); previous ceiling: 34 (33 plus CJI), set in 2019
- Enabling ordinance: Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, promulgated in May 2026
- Pending cases before the Supreme Court: over 93,000 as of 31 March 2026
- This is the first increase in Supreme Court judge strength since 2019, and the sixth revision since the original Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956
- Bill passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha after prior clearance by the Lok Sabha