New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 May 2026, officially approved a proposal to increase the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court of India. This legislative move aims to expand the number of judges from the current 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India (CJI). With the Chief Justice included, the overall sanctioned strength of the nation’s highest court will rise from 34 to 38 judges.
To give legal effect to this expansion, the government has decided to introduce The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Parliament. The Bill seeks to amend The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, which serves as the primary statutory framework for determining the number of judges in the apex court.
Historically, the composition of the Supreme Court has undergone several revisions since its establishment on 26 January 1950 under Part V of the Constitution. At its inception, the Court consisted of only eight judges, including the Chief Justice of India. Article 124(1) of the Constitution originally provided for a Chief Justice and no more than seven other judges unless Parliament prescribed a larger number by law. Over the decades, Parliament has exercised this authority to gradually increase the bench strength through various amendments to the 1956 Act.
The first major increase occurred in 1956, raising the total strength to 11 judges, followed by an increase to 14 in 1960 and then to 18 in 1977. The bench was further expanded to 26 judges in 1986 and eventually to 31 in 2009. The most recent revision prior to the 2026 proposal took place in 2019, when the sanctioned number of judges, excluding the CJI, was increased from 30 to 33, taking the total strength to 34. The current proposal to raise the strength to 38 judges represents the latest step in the long-term effort to align the Court’s capacity with the country’s growing legal demands.
