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Bill to increase Supreme Court judges introduced in Lok Sabha
20 Jul 2026

A bill to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court has been introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, was presented during the ongoing Monsoon Session by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

The legislation seeks to replace an ordinance that raised the number of judges from 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

Ordinance issued in May
Recent changes

In May, the President of India had promulgated an ordinance to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from 33 to 37, excluding the CJI.

Thus, the Supreme Court now has a sanctioned strength of 38 judges, including the CJI.

The amendment was made to Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to replace the word "33" therein with "37."

The working strength currently stands at 32 judges (including the CJI).

Last increase in number of judges
Legislative process

The proposed bill does not require any constitutional amendments and only needs a simple majority for passage in the Parliament.

Article 124 of the Constitution states that the Supreme Court consists of the CJI and other judges as prescribed by law.

The last increase in the number of judges was in 2019, when it was raised from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI).