NEW DELHI , June 1, 2026 — In a major move aimed at tackling judicial backlog and clearing bottlenecks at the highest tier of the Indian judiciary, the Central Government has cleared the appointment of five new judges to the Supreme Court of India. Announced by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, this development pushes the functional strength of the apex court to 37 judges, just one short of its newly upgraded total sanctioned capacity of 38.
The breakthrough comes a mere four days after the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, formally recommended the names. The swift executive clearance emphasizes a coordinated push between the judiciary and the executive to handle the massive volume of pending litigations.
The New Faces of the Apex Court
The five new appointees represent a balanced blend of seasoned judicial leadership from across major regional High Courts and direct expertise from the Supreme Court Bar. The group includes four sitting High Court Chief Justices and one prominent Senior Advocate:
- Justice Sheel Nagu: Moving to the top court from his role as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He originally hails from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, where he built a prominent reputation handling complex civil, constitutional, and service matters.
- Justice Shree Chandrashekhar: Elevated from his current position as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Known for structural efficiency, his judicial background spans several critical branches of civil and criminal law.
- Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva: The Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, bringing over a decade of extensive experience on the bench to New Delhi.
- Justice Arun Palli: Elevated from his position as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
- Senior Advocate Venkita Subramani Mohana: A landmark appointment from the Supreme Court Bar. Senior Advocate Mohana breaks new ground by being elevated directly from the Bar to the Supreme Court bench, making her only the second woman in Indian history to achieve this direct transition, following Justice Indu Malhotra.
Once these five legal minds take their formal oaths of office under CJI Surya Kant, the court will function at an unprecedented 37 judges.
Why Now? The Fight Against 93,000 Pending Cases
This rapid expansion follows an executive ordinance promulgated by President Droupadi Murmu, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. The amendment formally replaced the maximum limit of “thirty-three” with “thirty-seven” puisne judges—raising the overall sanctioned ceiling (which includes the Chief Justice of India) from 34 to 38.
The driving catalyst behind this expansion is a mountain of unresolved litigation. Data from the National Judicial Data Grid highlights that the total case pendency in the Supreme Court crossed a staggering 92,800 cases.
The strain on the court stems largely from its dual identity. The Supreme Court of India does not just act as a federal Constitutional Court to resolve vital questions of law; it also functions as an expansive Court of Appeal. Under Article 136 of the Constitution, thousands of citizens file Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) every year, appealing rulings from local high courts and tribunals. This double burden has left fewer benches available to sit for complex constitutional matters, resulting in lengthy delays for landmark verdicts.
Understanding the Historical Growth
The expansion of the Supreme Court bench is not a frequent event. Since the inception of the Republic in 1950, Parliament has had to periodically step in to scale the judiciary alongside India’s growing population and rising litigation rates.
Prior to this change, the last structural increase occurred in 2019, when the total cap was raised to 34. However, judicial experts have long argued that simply adding a few seats every decade is a temporary fix for a much larger structural challenge. India currently has a low judge-to-population ratio—standing at roughly 21 judges per million people across all court tiers combined. This is a sharp contrast to developed nations like the United States, which operates with over 100 judges per million citizens.
Will More Judges Solve the Backlog?
While the legal fraternity has widely welcomed the filling of these seats, critics and judicial scholars point out that numbers alone will not completely eliminate case delays.
Back in 2009, the 18th Law Commission of India, led by Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, cautioned that scaling up the number of judges without tweaking court practices would provide minimal long-term relief. The commission recommended splitting the apex court into a dedicated Constitution Bench in New Delhi and establishing four regional Benches of Appeal (Cassation Benches) in major geographical hubs like Mumbai, Chennai or Hyderabad, and Kolkata. This would allow regional benches to handle routine civil and criminal appeals, leaving the core Supreme Court to focus entirely on constitutional issues. Although the Full Court of the Supreme Court rejected this proposal in 2010, the ongoing backlog crisis keeps the debate active among legal scholars.
Furthermore, court capacity faces constant pressure from an impending wave of retirements. While the 5 new appointments reduce active vacancies to just one, the relief could be short-lived. Three senior sitting judges are already scheduled to retire over the coming months, meaning the Supreme Court Collegium will need to maintain this quick pace of recommendations to prevent falling back into empty-seat bottlenecks.
For the moment, the addition of these 5 fresh voices brings much-needed reinforcements to Tilak Marg. With more judges available to form multiple division benches, the Supreme Court is better equipped to conduct daily hearings, clear long-standing backlogs, and deliver speedier justice to millions of litigants across the nation.