{"id":103872,"date":"2026-05-18T09:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T04:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=103872"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:26:21","slug":"sc-strength-expanded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/sc-strength-expanded\/","title":{"rendered":"SC Strength Expanded &#8211; Ordinance Raises Judges\u2019 Number to 37"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>SC Strength Expanded Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The President of India has promulgated the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 to increase the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court <\/span><b>from 33 to 37<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, excluding the Chief Justice of India (CJI).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consequently, the total strength of the apex court, including the CJI, will rise from 34 to 38 judges.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ordinance amends Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) <\/span><b>Act, 1956<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and was issued under <\/span><b>Article 123<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the Constitution after the Union Cabinet approved the proposal earlier this month.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Ordinance-Making Power of the President<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Constitutional provision: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Article <\/span><b>123 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">empowers the President to promulgate ordinances when Parliament is not in session and immediate legislative action is required.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Features:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ordinances have the <\/span><b>same force and effect<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a law passed by Parliament.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are executive-legislative instruments meant for temporary and urgent circumstances, not routine governance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are subject to Parliamentary approval; <\/span><b>judicial review<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; and Constitutional limitations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Temporary nature:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ordinance must be laid before both Houses of Parliament when they reconvene.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will cease to operate if not approved<\/span><b> within six weeks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of reassembly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can also lapse if both Houses disapprove it, or may be withdrawn earlier by the President.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Judicial position:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SC established that ordinances are open to<\/span><b> judicial review<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the landmark cases of <\/span><b>R.C. Cooper<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> v. Union of India (1970), A.K. Roy v. Union of India (1982), and Krishna Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar (2017).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In cases such as <\/span><b>D.C. Wadhwa <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">v. State of Bihar (1987), it criticised repeated re-promulgation of ordinances, calling it a misuse of constitutional power.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Real power:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The Union Cabinet is the <\/span><b>driving force <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">behind this legislative process.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Need to Increase the Strength of the SC<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Rising pendency: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The judge-to-case ratio has become unsustainable, especially with rapidly rising appeals and special leave petitions (SLPs). <\/span><b>For example,\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pendency has crossed 93,000 cases;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post-COVID surge in e-filing has significantly increased case inflow;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increasing constitutional litigation, PILs, commercial disputes, and service matters have added to the burden.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Need for faster justice delivery:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judicial delays weaken rule of law, hinder enforcement of Fundamental Rights, and reduce <\/span><b>public trust<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The expansion aims to reduce delays in hearings and judgments; improve disposal rates; enable more Constitution and specialised benches; and strengthen citizens\u2019 access to timely justice.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Complexity in governance: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Modern governance has expanded the Court\u2019s responsibilities as a result of &#8211;\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Federal disputes;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Electoral matters;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Digital privacy and technology-related litigation;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Environmental and climate justice cases; and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Economic and regulatory disputes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Other Reforms Needed in the Judiciary<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Strengthening the entire judicial pyramid: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Merely increasing SC judges is insufficient unless subordinate courts and High Courts are also strengthened.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Key reforms needed:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Fill vacancies promptly: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Large vacancies persist in High Courts and subordinate judiciary. Timely appointments through the collegium and government coordination are essential.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Establish an All India Judicial Service (Article 312)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: This could improve recruitment quality and uniformity in lower judiciary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Limit routine appeals to the SC:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The SC should increasingly focus on constitutional and national importance cases rather than functioning as a regular appellate court.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Strengthen Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promote mediation, arbitration, and Lok Adalats to reduce litigation pressure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Expand judicial infrastructure: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More courtrooms, staff, digital infrastructure, and research assistance are needed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Institutionalise technology: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AI-assisted case management; e-courts; virtual hearings; and intelligent scheduling systems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>National court management systems<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Scientific case allocation and timeline-based disposal mechanisms can improve efficiency.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Separate constitution benches:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Permanent Constitution Benches could ensure quicker resolution of major constitutional matters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The decision to increase the sanctioned strength of the SC marks an <\/span><b>important institutional response<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to India\u2019s deepening judicial pendency crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While adding judges may provide immediate relief and improve disposal capacity, the larger challenge lies in comprehensive judicial reforms across all levels of the justice delivery system.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressreader.com\/india\/the-hindu-mumbai-9wwd\/20260518\/281539412596426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>TH<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The President of India has promulgated an ordinance to increase the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court (SC) from 33 to 37, excluding the CJI. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":103904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[7583],"class_list":{"0":"post-103872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-sc-strength-expanded","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103872"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103885,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103872\/revisions\/103885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}