India Increases Supreme Court Judge Strength to 38

The Indian Parliament passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, increasing the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 34 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India. The Government of India introduced the legislation to address a significant case backlog, which totaled 92,101 pending cases as of January 1, 2026. The bill amends the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, specifically raising the number of puisne judges from 33 to 37.

The Lok Sabha passed the bill via voice vote on August 3, 2026, without debate due to opposition protests regarding the NEET paper leak and Ram temple donations. The Rajya Sabha subsequently approved the bill on August 5, 2026. Because the legislation is classified as a Money Bill, it was returned to the Lok Sabha following the upper house's approval.

Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal stated that increasing the judge count is a measure to improve judicial efficiency and enable the Chief Justice to more regularly constitute Constitutional Benches. Meghwal added that the government plans to implement alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including arbitration, mediation, and conciliation, to further reduce pendency.