[dropcap]T[/dropcap]HE Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi today decided to bring a law to increase the number of Judges of the Supreme Court from 30 to 33 (excluding the Chief Justice of India)..The decision has come in the wake of the letter of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi to the Prime Minister in June this year wherein the former had said "about three decades ago, the judge strength of the SC was increased from 18 to 26, and then again after two decades in 2009, it was increased to 31, including the CJI, to expedite disposal of cases to keep pace with the rate of institution,".He added, "I request you to kindly consider, on top priority, to augment the judge-strength in the SC appropriately so that it can function more efficiently and effectively as it will go a long way to attain the ultimate goal of rendering timely justice to the litigant public.".The Union Government is likely to introduce the Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament to this effect. Once the bill is passed by the Parliament, the Supreme Court's strength will increase to 34 (including the CJI) as against the existing 31.
