Supreme Court to have 38 judges; Union Cabinet approves proposal

The Supreme Court of India is poised to have 38 judges instead of 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). The Union Cabinet approved the proposal to increase the number of the apex court’s judges on Tuesday. The top court currently has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the media, saying a Bill would be brought in the next session of Parliament to raise this strength by four.

This approval for more judges on the Supreme Court is coming after a six-year-long hiatus, as it was in 2019 when the Parliament had amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, raising the sanctioned strength from 31 to 33 (excluding the Chief Justice of India).

This move is considered necessary to tide over the looming crisis of pendency of cases for years, which was further complicated after the pandemic when the facility of e-filing increased the inflow.

The current backlog stands at 92,385 cases and threatens to reach six figures even as the court is going into summer recess or ‘partial working days’ in June.

This Cabinet approval would require an amendment to the 1956 Act. Article 124(1) vests in Parliament the sole authority to increase the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court. Once the amended law comes into force, the Supreme Court Collegium would recommend judges to the government for appointment to the top court.

At present, there are two vacancies in the Supreme Court that arose after former CJI Justice B.R. Gavai retired in November 2025 and Justice Rajesh Bindal completed his term in April 2026.

But this vacancy is going to increase as three more judges are scheduled to retire in 2026. Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Pankaj Mithal would complete their tenure next month in June, and Justice Sanjay Karol is due to retire in August 2026.

The number of judges has been increased numerous times through amendments in the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act with the last one effected in 2019, which increased the strength from 30 to 33, excluding the CJI.