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New Delhi, 5 May. The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice (CJI), from the present 34 to 38. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that at present there are 33 judges and Chief Justice in the Supreme Court. A bill will be introduced in the next session of Parliament to increase this number by four more. After the bill is passed by Parliament, the number of judges in the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice, will increase to 38.

A bill will be brought in the next session of Parliament to increase the number of judges.

The government says that by increasing the number of judges, the work of the Supreme Court will become more fast and effective, due to which pending cases will be disposed of quickly and people will be able to get justice on time. The expenses to this decision, such as salaries of judges, staff and other facilities, will be met from the Consolidated Fund of India. Under Article 124 of the Constitution, Parliament has the right to decide the number of judges in the Supreme Court.

When did the number of Supreme Court judges increase??

• The maximum number of judges, excluding the Chief Justice, was originally set at 10 in the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act 1956. This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1960 and further increased to 17 by another amendment to the law.
• Under the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, the number of judges of the apex court was increased from 17 to 25, excluding the Chief Justice. Subsequently, through a new amendment in 2009, the number of judges of the apex court was increased from 25 to 30.
• The strength of judges in the top court was last increased from 30 to 33 (except the Chief Justice) with the passing of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2019.
• Now there are preparations to increase it to 37 in 2026, so that the country’s largest court can work in a better way.