Supreme Court Expansion: Union Cabinet Approves Increase in Judge Count

Cabinet Decision to Boost Supreme Court Judges

New Delhi: On Tuesday, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to expand the Supreme Court's composition from 34 judges to 38, which includes the Chief Justice of India.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the current count stands at 33 judges plus the Chief Justice. A legislative Bill will be introduced in the upcoming Parliament session to facilitate this increase.

Once the Bill receives parliamentary approval, the total number of judges in the Supreme Court will rise to 38, including the Chief Justice.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act of 1956 initially set the maximum number of judges, excluding the Chief Justice, at 10.

This figure was raised to 13 through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act in 1960, and later increased to 17 by another amendment.

In 1986, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act raised the number of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the Chief Justice. A subsequent amendment in 2009 further increased this number from 25 to 30.

The last adjustment to the Supreme Court's strength occurred in 2019, when it was raised from 30 to 33 judges, excluding the Chief Justice, through another amendment to the original act.