Parliament Passes The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019 To Increase Strength Of SC Judges

The parliament has passed a bill which seeks to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from the present 30 to 33 judges which is aimed at reducing the pendency of cases.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019’ was moved by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who urged the house to pass the bill.

Leader of the House Thaawarchand Gehlot urged the house to pass the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019.

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on August 5. As of now, the Supreme Court has a sanctioned strength of 30 judges, plus the chief justice of India -- which is, 31 judges.

After the parliament gives its nod, the Supreme Court’s sanctioned strength will go up to 33, plus the Chief Justice of India.

Prior to the passing of this bill, the Supreme Court had a sanctioned strength of 31 judges. The move has now taken the number of posts at the Sup0reme Court to 34.

Since the appointments of Justices BR Gavai, Surya Kant, Aniruddha Bose and AS Bopanna in May this year, the Supreme Court has been functioning at full capacity.

The Supreme Court was expected to continue sitting at its full strength until the retirement of Justice AM Sapre on August 27. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is due to retire on November 17 this year.