President Murmu approves increase in Supreme Court judge strength to 38

NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday approved the Union Cabinet’s decision to increase the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 33 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India.

In a post on X, Meghwal said the ordinance amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, raising the number of judges from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India. The decision follows 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 quicker delivery of justice at a time when more than 92,000 cases are pending before the Supreme Court. The Cabinet had approved the proposal to introduce the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Parliament to formalise the increase.

Also read: Number of judges to be increased from 33 to 37
Under Article 124(1) of the Constitution, Parliament has the authority to determine the number of Supreme Court judges through legislation. The court’s strength has been revised several times over the decades in response to rising caseloads.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 initially fixed the strength at 10 judges apart from the Chief Justice. It was later increased to 13 in 1960, 17 in 1977, 25 in 1986, and 30 in 2008. The last revision came in 2019, when Parliament raised the number of judges from 30 to 33, excluding the Chief Justice of India.