The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act 1956, as originally enacted, provided for the maximum number of judges (excluding the chief justice of India) to be 10. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday (May 5, 2026) approved an increase in the number of judges of the Supreme Court from 34, which includes the Chief Justice of India, to a total 38.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the top court currently has a sanctioned strength of 33 judges, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). A Bill would be brought in the next session of Parliament to raise this strength by four.
The Cabinet approval is a step towards tiding over the continuing crisis of pendency plaguing the court for years now, especially after the pandemic, when the facility of e-filing increased the inflow. The current backlog is 92,385 cases, and threatening to reach six figures even as the court is going into summer recess or ‘partial working days’ in June.
The government’s approval for more judges on the Supreme Court is after a six-year hiatus. The Parliament had last amended Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 in 2019, raising the sanctioned strength from 31 to 33 (excluding the Chief Justice of India).
The Cabinet approval would be followed by an amendment to the 1956 Act. Article 124(1) gives Parliament the sole authority to increase the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court. Once the amended law comes into force, the Supreme Court Collegium would recommend judges to the government for appointment to the top court.
Present vacancies
Presently, there are two judicial vacancies in the Supreme Court. These are of the current Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s immediate predecessor, Justice B.R. Gavai, who retired in November 2025, and Justice Rajesh Bindal, who completed office in April 2026.
Three more judges are scheduled to retire in 2026. Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Pankaj Mithal would complete their tenure next month in June, and Justice Sanjay Karol is due to retire in August 2026.
The Framers of the Constitution had originally, in Article 124(1), envisaged a Supreme Court consisting of the Chief Justice of India and “not more than seven judges” until the “Parliament bylaw prescribes a larger number”.
The 1956 Act enhanced the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) to 10. This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of the Supreme Court judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI. Subsequently, a fresh amendment in 2009 further augmented the strength of top court judges from 25 to 30. This was followed by the amendment in 2019.
Published – May 05, 2026 08:14 pm IST
