Bill Seeking Increase in the Number of Supreme Court Judges Introduced in Loksabha [Read Bill]

In order to address the rising pendency of cases in the apex court, central government has introduced the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019 in the Loksabha.

The Bill seeks to increase the current strength of judges in the Supreme Court from thirty to thirty-three, excluding the Chief Justice of India.The Judges will also be entitled to the use of rent free official residence. Each Judge will have to be provided with personal staff at residence and office. Expenditure would also be incurred in connection with the deployment of security for Judges.

The Bill states its Statement of Objectives and Reasons as the following:

The pendency of cases in the Supreme Court of India has constantly been on the rise due to comparatively higher rate of institution of cases. As on the 1st day of June, 2019, there were 58669 cases pending in the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of India has intimated that inadequate strength of judges is one of the prime reasons for backlog of cases in the Supreme Court. It is not possible for the Chief Justice of India to constitute five Judges Bench on a regular basis to hear cases involving substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution as it would result in constitution of less number of Division Benches which would lead to delay in hearing of other civil and criminal matters.