Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges by 4

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.

The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.

So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the CJI. Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.

At present, the apex court has two vacancies.

A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.

The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May

5 to increase the number of apex court judges. PTI NAB ARI ARI