Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 amends Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 to increase strength of judges from 33 to 37 judges

Two weeks prior to Supreme Court's commencement of its six-week long Partial Working Days, the President of India has increased the  strength of judges in the Supreme Court from 33 to 37 Judges (excluding the Chief Justice of India) by promulgating The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, which has further amended the “Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. The Ordinance has been promulgated to ensure the Court to “function more efficiently and effectively”. The Ordinance was notified in the Gazette of India on May 16 11 days after the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister approved the proposal on May 11 for introducing The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Parliament to amend The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament. The government invoked Article 123 of the Constitution which empowers the President to legislate by Ordinance. The Ordinance is required to be laid before both Houses within six weeks of their reassembly else it will lapse.

The Court’s working strength is 32 including the Chief Justice of India. There are two vacancies and four judges are retiring this year. 

Article 124 (1) in Constitution of India reads:“There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other Judges…” An act to increase the Judge strength of the Supreme Court of India was enacted in 1956 vide 2-page long The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act 1956. Section 2 of the Act provided for the maximum number of Judges (excluding the Chief Justice of India) to be 10. The Judge strength of the Supreme Court of India was 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 restricted to 15 Judges by the Union Cabinet, excluding the Chief Justice of India, till the end of 1979, when the restriction was withdrawn at the request of the Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986 further augmented the Judge strength of the Supreme Court of India, excluding the Chief Justice of India, from 17 to 25. The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2008 further augmented the Judge strength of the Supreme Court of India from 25 to 30. The Judge strength of the Supreme Court of India was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the Chief Justice of India) by further amending the original act vide The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2019 with effect from August 9, 2019.

The pendency in the Supreme Court is at a record 92,823 cases as of April 30, 2026. A writ petition filed in 2016 makes a case for constitution of a National Court of Appeal. It is pending with a Constitution Bench. In Krishna Kumar Singh vs. State of Bihar (2017), a 7-Judge Constitution Bench held that the ordinance-making power to be subject of judicial scrutiny.   

While the Union cabinet seemed to be in a tearing hurry to expand the strength of the judges, it has not shown similar swiftness in clearing the names of the judges recommended by the Collegium.