Supreme Court gets 5 new Judges, strength rises to 37

The Supreme Court of India is set to operate at near-full strength after the Centre approved the appointment of five new judges, increasing the court’s working strength to 37 against a sanctioned strength of 38.

The newly appointed judges are Venkita Subramani Mohana, Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva and Arun Palli.

The appointments were approved by the President under Article 124(2) of the Constitution and formally announced by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. The five names had been recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium on May 27, and the appointments were cleared within four days.

The Collegium, headed by Surya Kant, made the recommendations as part of the first major round of judicial appointments since he assumed office as Chief Justice of India in November 2025.

Once the judges take oath, the apex court's strength will rise to 37, leaving only one vacancy. The development follows the Centre's decision to increase the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 34 to 38 judges through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026.

The expansion is expected to help address the growing backlog of cases and enable the court to constitute more Constitution Benches for hearing important legal and constitutional matters. The appointments are also seen as balancing seniority, merit, regional representation and diversity within the higher judiciary.