President Murmu approves increase in Supreme Court judge strength to 38
New Delhi: President Draupadi Murmu on Sunday approved the Union Cabinet’s decision to increase the Supreme Court’s mandated strength from 33 to 38 judges. Chief Justice of India. In a post on X, Meghwal said the ordinance amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, increasing the number of judges from 33 to 37 excluding the Chief Justice of India. The decision was taken after approval by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 5.The government said the expansion is aimed at strengthening the apex court and ensuring speedy justice at a time when more than 92,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court. The Cabinet has approved the proposal to raise the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Parliament to formalize the increase.Also read: The number of judges will be increased from 33 to 37According to Article 124(1) of the Constitution, Parliament has the power to fix the number of judges of the Supreme Court by making a law. The court’s powers have been revised several times over the decades in response to increasing caseload.The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 initially fixed the powers of 10 judges in addition to the Chief Justice. It later increased to 13 in 1960, 17 in 1977, 25 in 1986 and 30 in 2008. The last amendment came in 2019, when Parliament increased the number of judges from 30 to 33, excluding the Chief Justice of India.
