Union Cabinet Accepts Proposal To Increase Strength Of Supreme Court Judges To 37 (Excluding CJI)

In an important development today, the Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for introducing a Bill to increase the judges' strength in the Supreme Court from 33 judges(excluding the Chief Justice of India) to 38 judges( excluding the CJI)

The Bill, Supreme Court(Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, will bring these amendments to the Supreme Court(Number of Judges) Act, 1956. In 2019, the number of judges in the Supreme Court was increased from 31 to 33(excluding the CJI).  

The proposed move is being made, considering the pendency of cases. With more than four judges set to retire this year, the introduction of this Bill will bring some relief to the caseload.