India, July 20 -- The Central government has introduced the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha to increase the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court from 33 to 37 judges, excluding the Chief Justice of India (CJI). With the CJI included, the court's total sanctioned strength will rise from 34 to 38 judges. The Bill seeks to replace an ordinance promulgated by the Centre in May this year.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tabled the Bill on the opening day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The government said the move is aimed at improving the Supreme Court's efficiency and reducing the growing backlog of pending cases by allowing more benches to function simultaneously.

The proposa...