India: President Assents to Law Increasing Supreme Court Judges to 38

President of India Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2026, which increases the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 34 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India.The legislation received presidential assent on August 11 and has been notified in the Gazette of India.The law will be deemed to have come into force on May 16, 2026, when the President had promulgated the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026. The Act repeals that Ordinance while protecting all actions already taken under itThe Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal on July 20. The Lower House passed it on August 3, following which the Rajya Sabha considered and returned it on August 5. It was certified as a money bill under Article 110 of the Constitution.During the discussion in parliament, Meghwal revealed that Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 11 seeking an increase in the Court’s sanctioned strength.The CJI had reportedly pointed to the growing inflow of cases and the difficulty in maintaining the Court’s disposal rate when judges are assigned to Constitution Benches. The recently constituted nine-judge Bench hearing the Sabarimala reference was cited as an example.According to the government, over 92,000 cases were pending before the Supreme Court as of January 1, 2026. During 2025, the Court rece