A Bill seeking an increase in the number of Supreme Court judges is likely to be moved by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for consideration and passing in the Parliament tomorrow.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019 seeks to increase the number of Judges of Supreme Court from existing 31 to 34 (including CJI).
Earlier, the Union Cabinet on July 31 had approved the Bill.
The apex court presently is functioning with the sanctioned strength of 31 including the CJI. If the Bill gets passed by the Parliament, it will increase the tally of Judges to 34 including the CJI.
It may be recalled that CJI Ranjan Gogoi had previously written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to increase the strength of Supreme Court judges. CJI Gogoi had cited pendency of cases for increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court.
He had also said that due to less number of Judges, he was unable to form the Constitution benches.
—India Legal Bureau