Cabinet Meeting: Government approved the proposal to increase the number of Supreme Court judges, now there will be 38 judges including CJI.

New Delhi. The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court from the present 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that at present there are 33 judges and Chief Justice in the Supreme Court. A bill will be introduced in the next session of Parliament to increase this number by four more.

After the bill is passed by Parliament, the number of judges in the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice, will increase to 38. The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act 1956, as originally enacted, set the maximum number of judges at 10, excluding the Chief Justice. This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1960 and further to 17 by another amendment to the law.

Under the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, the number of judges of the apex court was increased from 17 to 25, excluding the Chief Justice. Subsequently, through a new amendment in 2009, the number of judges of the apex court was increased from 25 to 30. The number of judges in the top court was last increased from 30 to 33 (except the Chief Justice) with the passing of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2019.