The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to increase the number of sanctioned judges from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India (CJI), to address rising caseloads and speed up delivery of justice.
The decision, taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paves the way for the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, to be presented in Parliament. The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to expand the capacity of the court at a time when more than 92,000 cases are still pending.
An official statement said that the increase aims to strengthen the Supreme Court and enable it to decide cases faster, noting that more than 92,000 cases are currently pending before it. “The increased number will help deliver justice faster,” the government said.
The move comes more than six years after the last review in 2019, when Parliament increased the number of judges from 30 to 33. At that time, there were more than 58,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court.
The Constitution itself does not specify the number of judges in the Supreme Court. Article 124(1) of the Constitution provides for the appointment of a Chief Justice of India and leaves it to Parliament to determine the number of competent judges through legislation. This flexibility has allowed successive governments to periodically review the strength of the court in response to the increasing number of cases.
The Supreme Court of India officially began functioning on 28 January 1950, with a confirmed strength of eight judges – one from the International Court of Justice and seven associate judges. This structure was established by the 1950 Constitution, and in its early years, the eight justices sat together to hear cases.
Later, it operated with a modest strength of 10 judges (excluding the International Court of Justice) under the 1956 Act. This number was first increased to 13 in 1960 and then to 17 in 1977. However, the effective strength remained limited to 15 judges until 1979, when the restriction was lifted at the request of the then International Court of Justice.
Subsequent decades saw further expansions. The approved strength was increased to 25 in 1986 and then to 30 in 2008. The latest revision came before the current proposal in 2019, reflecting ongoing efforts to align judicial capacity with the growing list.
The proposed increase to 37 judges, excluding the ICJ, represents the latest attempt to bridge this gap, as the court continues to deal with a steadily increasing caseload.
To be sure, Supreme Court justices now sit on benches of two or three for ordinary cases, and meet on larger constitutional benches of five or more to resolve disputes between previous court decisions or to interpret substantive constitutional questions.
