Part of: National Current Affairs · See also: UPSC syllabus · UKPSC syllabus
Supreme Court Judge Strength increased:
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today approved a key proposal. It cleared the introduction of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Parliament. The Bill amends the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. As a result, the strength of Supreme Court Judges will rise by 4, from 33 to 37. This number excludes the Chief Justice of India.
Relevance for UPSC/UKPSC:
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 raises the number of Supreme Court Judges by four. Thus, the strength goes up from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India.
Article 124 (1) in Constitution of India inter-alia provided “There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other Judges…”.
Parliament enacted the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act in 1956 to increase the Judge strength. Section 2 of the Act set the maximum number of Judges at 10. However, this figure excluded the Chief Justice of India.
Later, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1960 raised the strength to 13. Then, the Amendment Act of 1977 raised it to 17. However, the Cabinet restricted the working strength to 15 Judges, excluding the Chief Justice of India. This restriction lasted till the end of 1979. Eventually, the Government withdrew it at the request of the Chief Justice of India.
Next, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986 raised the strength from 17 to 25. This figure also excluded the Chief Justice of India. Subsequently, the Amendment Act of 2008 raised it from 25 to 30.
Finally, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2019 raised the strength from 30 to 33. Again, this number excludes the Chief Justice of India.