Bill to increase Supreme Court judges introduced in Lok Sabha

The Centre introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to replace an ordinance increasing the Supreme Court's sanctioned judge strength from 34 to 38. The government said the move would help reduce case pendency and enable regular constitution of larger constitutional benches

New Delhi: A bill to replace an ordinance which increased the number of Supreme Court judges by four was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday, with the government asserting that an enhanced strength is one of the most exigent and viable solutions for tackling pendency in the top court.

Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the bill amid slogan-shouting by opposition members over NEET paper leak and alleged Ram temple donation theft. In May, the Union Cabinet had cleared the bill to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court, but soon thereafter the government brought an ordinance.

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After the ordinance, five judges were appointed to the apex court based on the upgraded sanctioned strength. The bill does not require an amendment to the Constitution and requires a simple majority for passage.

After the ordinance was issued, the sanctioned strength of the apex court went up to 38 from 34, including the Chief Justice of India. According to the bill, the volume of litigation of cases in the Supreme Court has constantly been on the rise due to a persistent gap between institution and final disposal of cases in the court.

As on January 1, this year, there were 92,101 cases pending in the Supreme Court. Even while working at near-full sanctioned capacity of 34 judges since 2019, the Supreme Court recorded institution of 75,410 fresh matters in 2025 against a disposal of 65,615 cases.

It said there has been a persistent gap between institution and final disposal of cases, which highlights the ongoing challenge of managing the docket, particularly in relation to older pending cases and those necessitating the attention and adjudication by larger Benches.

“The increase in judge strength of the Court is one of the most exigent and viable solutions for tackling the pending backlog of cases in the Supreme Court. It will also make it possible for the Chief Justice of India to constitute Constitutional Benches for a required period of days on a regular basis to hear cases involving a substantial question of law,” it said.

The Lok Sabha has also admitted a Statutory Resolution by opposition members opposing the ordinance. According to procedure, if a bill is brought to replace an ordinance, opposition members move a statutory resolution opposing the ordinance.

The ordinance is an executive power exercised by the government to frame laws in an emergency when Parliament is not in session. An ordinance has a life of six months, but once a session commences, the ordinance has to be passed by Parliament into a law within six weeks or 42 days else it lapses.