{"id":384446,"date":"2026-05-18T14:30:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=384446"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:15:27","slug":"supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President’s Ordinance Responds to India’s Mounting Case Backlog"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On 16 May 2026, the President promulgated the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026<\/span> in exercise of her powers under Article 123<\/a><\/span> of the Constitution of India<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Key Points of Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. \n

    The Ordinance amends the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956<\/a>, altering the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    The number of Judges (excluding the Chief Justice of India<\/span>) has been increased from 33 to 37.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    As a result, the total strength of the Supreme Court (including the Chief Justice of India<\/span>) has increased from 34 to 38 judges<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    The amendment aims to address the growing backlog of cases and the rising workload of the apex court.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  5. \n

    The Ordinance came into force immediately upon its promulgation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Also Read:<\/span> Cabinet Clears Proposal to Add Four More Supreme Court Judges, Taking Total Strength to 38<\/a><\/p>\n

    Also Read:<\/span> Supreme Court’s Tale of Strength<\/a> <\/p>\n

    Read More:<\/span> Supreme Court 2023: A Look Back at Judicial Strength, Appointments, Retirements, and Collegium Resolutions<\/a><\/p>\n

    [Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, published on 16-5-2026]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 has been notified, raising judge strength from 34 to 38 to address rising case pendency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67525,"featured_media":384459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[104554,103771,103773,104552,24783,103775,103774,104553,104551],"class_list":["post-384446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislationupdates","category-statutes","tag-article-123-constitution","tag-increase-in-judges-supreme-court","tag-number-of-judges","tag-number-of-judges-increase","tag-supreme-court-judges","tag-supreme-court-number-of-judges-act-1956-amendment","tag-supreme-court-pendency","tag-supreme-court-strength-38","tag-union-supreme-court-ordinance-2026"],"yoast_head":"\nSupreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance 2026 | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 notified, raising strength from 34 to 38 to tackle backlog and improve case disposal efficiency.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President's Ordinance Responds to India's Mounting Case Backlog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 notified, raising strength from 34 to 38 to tackle backlog and improve case disposal efficiency.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T09:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T10:15:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/blog-34-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"886\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shubhi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President's Ordinance Responds to India's Mounting Case Backlog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shubhi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shubhi\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e8a14a0016e76e01d69a7a3ca6164ac\"},\"headline\":\"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President’s Ordinance Responds to India’s Mounting Case Backlog\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-18T09:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-18T10:15:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":185,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/blog-34-4-1.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Article 123 Constitution\",\"increase in judges Supreme Court\",\"Number of Judges\",\"number of judges increase\",\"supreme court judges\",\"Supreme Court Number of Judges Act 1956 amendment\",\"Supreme Court pendency\",\"Supreme Court strength 38\",\"Union Supreme Court Ordinance 2026\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Legislation Updates\",\"Statutes\\\/Bills\\\/Ordinances\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/\",\"name\":\"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance 2026 | SCC Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/blog-34-4-1.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-18T09:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-18T10:15:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e8a14a0016e76e01d69a7a3ca6164ac\"},\"description\":\"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 notified, raising strength from 34 to 38 to tackle backlog and improve case disposal efficiency.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/blog-34-4-1.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/blog-34-4-1.webp\",\"width\":886,\"height\":590,\"caption\":\"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President's Ordinance Responds to India's Mounting Case Backlog\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/18\\\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President’s Ordinance Responds to India’s Mounting Case Backlog\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e8a14a0016e76e01d69a7a3ca6164ac\",\"name\":\"Shubhi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0da7aaea2ff41a69b9926284cf9e1f24b3f53e830b045ed1d3f853355e3e5157?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0da7aaea2ff41a69b9926284cf9e1f24b3f53e830b045ed1d3f853355e3e5157?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0da7aaea2ff41a69b9926284cf9e1f24b3f53e830b045ed1d3f853355e3e5157?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shubhi\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/author\\\/shubhi\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance 2026 | SCC Times","description":"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 notified, raising strength from 34 to 38 to tackle backlog and improve case disposal efficiency.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President's Ordinance Responds to India's Mounting Case Backlog","og_description":"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 notified, raising strength from 34 to 38 to tackle backlog and improve case disposal efficiency.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2026-05-18T09:00:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-18T10:15:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":886,"height":590,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/blog-34-4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Shubhi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President's Ordinance Responds to India's Mounting Case Backlog","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shubhi","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/"},"author":{"name":"Shubhi","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e8a14a0016e76e01d69a7a3ca6164ac"},"headline":"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President’s Ordinance Responds to India’s Mounting Case Backlog","datePublished":"2026-05-18T09:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-18T10:15:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/"},"wordCount":185,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/blog-34-4-1.webp","keywords":["Article 123 Constitution","increase in judges Supreme Court","Number of Judges","number of judges increase","supreme court judges","Supreme Court Number of Judges Act 1956 amendment","Supreme Court pendency","Supreme Court strength 38","Union Supreme Court Ordinance 2026"],"articleSection":["Legislation Updates","Statutes\/Bills\/Ordinances"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/","name":"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance 2026 | SCC Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/blog-34-4-1.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-18T09:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-18T10:15:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e8a14a0016e76e01d69a7a3ca6164ac"},"description":"Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026 notified, raising strength from 34 to 38 to tackle backlog and improve case disposal efficiency.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/blog-34-4-1.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/blog-34-4-1.webp","width":886,"height":590,"caption":"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President's Ordinance Responds to India's Mounting Case Backlog"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/05\/18\/supreme-court-judges-increase-ordinance-2026-explained\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Four More Judges for the Supreme Court: President’s Ordinance Responds to India’s Mounting Case Backlog"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e8a14a0016e76e01d69a7a3ca6164ac","name":"Shubhi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0da7aaea2ff41a69b9926284cf9e1f24b3f53e830b045ed1d3f853355e3e5157?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0da7aaea2ff41a69b9926284cf9e1f24b3f53e830b045ed1d3f853355e3e5157?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0da7aaea2ff41a69b9926284cf9e1f24b3f53e830b045ed1d3f853355e3e5157?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shubhi"},"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/shubhi\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/blog-34-4-1.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67525"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384446"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384458,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384446\/revisions\/384458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}