Even after getting five new judges earlier this month, the Supreme Court faces three vacancies as two judges retired during the summer vacation i.e. partial working days.
On June 2, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administered the oath of office to Justice Sheel Nagu, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Justice Arun Palli and senior advocate V. Mohana as judges of the Supreme Court, taking the number of judges in the top court to 37 against a sanctioned strength of 38.
However, the retirement of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Pankaj Mithal on June 28 and June 16, respectively, has increased the number of vacancies in the Supreme Court to three.
Justice P S Narasimha is set to become a member of the Supreme Court Collegium with the retirement of Justice JK Maheshwari on Sunday.
With two more judges scheduled to retire later this year – Justice Sanjay Karol on August 22 and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma on November 29, the Supreme Court Collegium led by CJI Surya Kant is expected to recommend names to fill the existing and anticipated vacancies in the Supreme Court.
Last month, President Droupadi Murmu promulgated an Ordinance to increase the number of Supreme Court Judges from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance 2026 was promulgated on May 16 to amend Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, replacing the word “33" therein with “37".
It means the Supreme Court now has a sanctioned strength of 38 judges, including the CJI.
The last increase in Supreme Court judges’ strength happened in 2019, when it was taken from 31 to 33 (excluding the CJI).
According to Article 124 (1) in the Constitution, “There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other Judges…”.
At its inception in 1950, the Supreme Court had only eight judges, including the CJI. The number of judges in the Supreme Court was first increased in 1956 to 11, including the CJI and then to 14 in 1960 and 18 in 1977.
The Supreme Court’s judge-strength was increased from 18 to 26 in 1986 and further to 31 in 2009. It was increased to its present strength of 34 (including the CJI) in 2019.
The Union Cabinet had on May 5 approved a proposal to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 34 judges to 38 judges (including the CJI)
The decision was taken in a meeting of the Union Cabinet and the Government had decided to introduce ‘The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026’ in Parliament to amend ‘The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956’ for increasing the number of Judges of the Supreme Court of India by four from the present 33 to 37 (excluding the Chief Justice of India).
However, to give an immediate effect to the decision, the Government chose to take the ordinance route as Parliament was not in session.
The Government maintained that the increase in the number of judges will allow the Supreme Court to function more efficiently and effectively, ensuring speedy justice.
As of May 31, 2026, the total pendency in the Supreme Court touched a record high of 92, 429 cases, a decrease of 394 cases from 92,823 cases in April this year.
