Meghwal introduces Bill to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 33 to 37, excluding CJI

Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday introduced ‘The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026’ in the Lok Sabha amid Opposition sloganeering on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The Bill, which seeks to further amend the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, will replace an ordinance promulgated by the Centre in May to increase the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India.

On May 5, the Union Cabinet had approved the decision to increase the top court’s strength from 33 to 37, excluding CJI following which President Droupadi Murmu had promulgated the ordinance on May 16.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 will amend Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, replacing the word “33” therein with “37”.

The last increase in Supreme Court judges’ strength happened in 2019, when it was taken from 31 to 33 (excluding the CJI).

According to Article 124 (1) in the Constitution, “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…”

At its inception in 1950, the Supreme Court had only eight judges, including the CJI. The number of judges in the Supreme Court was first increased in 1956 to 11, including the CJI and then to 14 in 1960 and 18 in 1977.

The Supreme Court’s judge-strength was increased from 18 to 26 in 1986 and further to 31 in 2009. It was increased to its present strength of 34 (including the CJI) in 2019.

The Government maintained that the increase in the number of judges will allow the Supreme Court to function more efficiently and effectively, ensuring speedy justice.