3 weeks ago
Rajya Sabha passes Bill to raise Supreme Court judge strength
The government of India wants to add four more judges to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country.
Right now, the Supreme Court is allowed to have 34 judges, and the new law would allow 38 judges.
The Rajya Sabha, one of the two houses of Parliament, passed the law on a Wednesday, after the other house, the Lok Sabha, had already approved it on Monday.
The government used a special rule called a "money Bill" to pass this law, which means the Rajya Sabha's approval is not even needed.
Some people think this is unfair, because a money Bill should only be about taxes and government spending.
In 2018, a judge said using this rule wrongly was like cheating the Constitution.
The Supreme Court is still deciding whether using a money Bill for such laws is allowed.
The new judges will cost the government about 14 crore rupees.
A group of seven judges will later decide whether this way of passing laws is fair.
The Rajya Sabha passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, raising the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The Bill, cleared by the Lok Sabha on Monday, was passed as a money Bill — the same route used in 2019 when the strength was raised to 34.
The estimated total expenditure on creating the four additional posts is approximately Rs 14,04,17,648, covering salaries, staff, residences, conveyance and security.
Whether a Bill can be certified as a money Bill is pending before a seven-judge Constitution Bench; a 2018 dissenting opinion described the route as a "fraud on the Constitution."
The larger bench is yet to examine the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Aadhaar Act and the 2017 tribunal amendments in light of the money Bill question.
- Who
- The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, the two houses of the Indian Parliament, acting on a Bill moved by the Government of India.
- What
- Passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, which increases the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38, using the money Bill route.
- Where
- India — the Parliament buildings for the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, with the Supreme Court of India at the centre of the legal questions raised.
- When
- The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on Wednesday, after it cleared the Lok Sabha the previous Monday, in 2026.
- Why
- To increase the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38 by creating four additional posts of judges.
Opposition and critics
Government
Use of the money Bill route
Opposition and critics
The Opposition argued that the government used the money Bill route only because it did not have the numbers to get such legislation cleared in the Rajya Sabha.
Government
The government maintains that Bills dealing with expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India validly qualify as money Bills under Article 110 of the Constitution.
Constitutionality of money Bills
Opposition and critics
In 2018, Justice D Y Chandrachud called passing the Aadhaar Act as a money Bill a "fraud on the Constitution" and "subterfuge," and in 2019 a five-judge bench expressed doubts over the correctness of the verdict upholding the Aadhaar Act.
Government
The government argued that since subsidies distributed through Aadhaar flow from the Consolidated Fund of India, the law was validly categorised as a money Bill.
Key facts
- Bill
- Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026
- Current judge strength
- 34 (including the Chief Justice of India)
- Proposed judge strength
- 38 (including the Chief Justice of India)
- Route taken
- Money Bill under Article 110 of the Constitution
- Lok Sabha approval
- Monday — Bill cleared
- Rajya Sabha approval
- Wednesday — Bill passed
- Estimated total expenditure
- Approximately Rs 14,04,17,648
- Pending legal question
- Whether a Bill can be certified as a money Bill — before a seven-judge Constitution Bench
Quotes
Justice D Y Chandrachud
Supreme Court judge
“"fraud on the Constitution"”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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