Govt raises Supreme Court judges strength from 33 to 37 by ordinance

New Delhi: Government has promulgated an ordinance to immediately increase the number of judges in Supreme Court from 33 to 37, days after the union cabinet decided to bring a Bill in Parliament.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance 2026 was signed by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday, according to the notification published in the official gazette.

According to the ordinance, "In section 2 of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, for the word 'thirty-three', the word 'thirty-seven' shall be substituted." This will be excluding the Chief Justice of India.

The Union Cabinet on May 5 had approved the proposal for introducing The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Parliament to increase the number of judges in the apex

Article 123 empowers the President to promulgate ordinances on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet when Parliament is in recess, if he is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action.

However, the ordinance will lapse if the government cannot get it passed in Parliament within six months or within six weeks of the reassembly of the Parliament. The Monsoon Session is likely to be held in July and it was not immediately clear the urgency in bringing the ordinance now.

The government had earlier said that the increase in the number of Judges will allow the Supreme Court to function more efficiently and effectively ensuring speedy justice.

While the Constitution allowed for a Chief Justice and seven other judges, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act 1956 provided for increasing the number of judges to ten.

The number of judges was further increased to 13 by The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1977.

The working strength of the Supreme Court of India was, however, restricted to 15 Judges by the Cabinet, excluding the Chief Justice of India, till the end of 1979, when the restriction was withdrawn at the request of the Chief Justice of India.

In 1986, the law was further amended to augment the judge strength in the Supreme Court from 17 to 25 and in 2008, from 25 to 30.

The strength of judges in the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33, excluding the Chief Justice of India, by further amending the original act through The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2019.