Supreme Court Judges Bill 2026: Strength Raised to 38 With CJI
Why in the news
Cabinet nod has been given to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026. It would add four judges to the court’s sanctioned strength, helping it cope with a heavy case-load.
Key facts
- Proposed strength: 33 to 37 judges besides the CJI, so 38 including the CJI (earlier 34).
- Existing law being changed: the 1956 Act on the number of Supreme Court judges.
- Constitutional basis: Article 124(1), which empowers Parliament to fix the number of judges by law.
- Passage: simple majority in both Houses, then Presidential assent.
- Usual trigger: a request from the CJI citing backlog and shortage of benches.
Growth in bench size
| Year | Judges besides CJI | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 7 | 8 |
| 1956 | 10 | 11 |
| 2026 (proposed) | 37 | 38 |
Background
- Supreme Court: India’s apex court under Article 124, functioning since 28 January 1950 in place of the Federal Court; final appellate authority and guardian of the Constitution.
- Appointment path: Collegium (CJI and four senior-most judges) recommends; Law Ministry, then Prime Minister, then the President appoints under Article 124(2), following the Memorandum of Procedure.
- Collegium: grew out of the Three Judges Cases of 1981, 1993 and 1998. For High Courts it is the CJI plus two senior-most judges.
- NJAC: created by the 99th Amendment (2014), made up of the CJI, two senior judges, the Law Minister plus two eminent persons; struck down in 2015 as it breached judicial primacy, a basic-structure element.
- Charged expenditure: judges’ pay and allowances come from the Consolidated Fund of India and are not voted on by Parliament.
- Jurisdictions: original (Article 131), appellate (Articles 132-134), writ (Article 32), advisory (Article 143), plus review and curative.
- Constitution Bench: under Article 145(3), cases with a substantial constitutional question need at least five judges.
Significance and concern
- More benches mean faster disposal and room for Constitution Benches without stalling routine appeals.
- Pendency: about 80,000+ cases in the Supreme Court and over 5 crore across all courts.
Exam angle
- Article 124(1): strength set by Parliament; Article 124(2): appointment by the President; Article 217 concerns High Court judges.
- No constitutional amendment is required for this increase.
- Related terms: Collegium, MoP, NJAC, charged expenditure.