Supreme Court Judge Strength Raised to 38 Through Presidential Ordinance

In a major step to address rising pendency in the judiciary, the Union government has increased the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court to 38 judges. President Droupadi Murmu promulgated the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, raising the number of judges from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India.

The Ordinance was officially notified in the Gazette of India on May 16. It amends Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 by replacing the existing figure of “thirty-three” with “thirty-seven”. With this change, the Supreme Court can now have the Chief Justice of India along with 37 other judges.

Earlier, the top court had a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the CJI. The latest amendment creates four additional positions in the apex court. However, appointments to these new posts will still follow the collegium system and require formal approval by the government.

The Ordinance has been issued under Article 123 of the Constitution of India. This provision empowers the President to promulgate an Ordinance when Parliament is not in session and immediate legislative action becomes necessary.

The move comes at a time when the Supreme Court continues to face a heavy backlog of pending cases. Increasing the judge strength is expected to help improve disposal rates and reduce delays in hearing matters before the apex court.

Earlier this month, on May 5, the Union Cabinet had approved the proposal to increase the strength of judges in the Supreme Court from 34 to 38. The Ordinance now gives legal effect to that decision until Parliament formally passes the amendment law.

The history of the Supreme Court’s strength reflects the growing workload of the judiciary over the decades. When the Supreme Court was established in 1950, it consisted of only eight judges, including the Chief Justice of India.

Article 124(1) of the Constitution originally provided that the Supreme Court would consist of a Chief Justice of India and not more than seven other judges unless Parliament increased the number through legislation.

The strength of the Court was first increased in 1956 to 11 judges. It was later revised to 14 judges in 1960 and 18 judges in 1977. In 1986, the number rose to 26 judges. The sanctioned strength was further increased to 31 in 2009 and later to 34 in 2019.

The latest increase to 38 judges marks another significant expansion in the Supreme Court’s structure, aimed at strengthening judicial capacity and improving the administration of justice in the country.