THE UNION CABINET ON TUESDAY cleared the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, to increase the strength of Supreme Court judges from 33 to 37 (excluding the Chief Justice of India). The bill seeks to amend the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956.
According to the government’s press note, this increase in the number of judges will enable the Supreme Court to function more efficiently and effectively, ensuring speedy justice. Thus, the total strength of the Supreme Court will now be 37+1 (including the CJI), as against 33+1 earlier.
At present, there are already two vacancies in the Supreme Court, the latest having arisen upon the retirement of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai in November last year.
Importantly, the Supreme Court currently has only one woman judge, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, who was appointed in 2021. Since then, no woman judge has been recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court by the Collegium, even though as many as 29 judges—all men—have been appointed since 2021.
While the Collegium has not hesitated to allow the supersession of judges to appoint male judges, there appears to be reluctance when it comes to appointing women judges.
An Act to increase the judge strength of the Supreme Court of India was first enacted in 1956. Section 2 of the Act provided that the maximum number of judges (excluding the Chief Justice of India) would be 10.
Importantly, the Supreme Court currently has only one woman judge, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, who was appointed in 2021.
How Supreme Court strength has expanded over the years
The judge strength was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by the Amendment Act of 1977. However, the working strength was restricted to 15 judges (excluding the Chief Justice of India) by the Cabinet until the end of 1979, when the restriction was withdrawn at the request of the Chief Justice of India.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986 further increased the judge strength from 17 to 25 (excluding the Chief Justice of India). Subsequently, the Amendment Act of 2008 raised the strength from 25 to 30.
The judge strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the Chief Justice of India) through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2019.
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