Govt proposes to increase SC judges

In a bid to clear the heavy backlog of cases and render speedy justice, Government on Thursday proposed to increase the strength of Supreme Court judges from 25 to 30.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved a proposal to increase the number of judges in the apex court, excluding the Chief Justice, to 30.

"The increase in the number of judges will allow Supreme Court to function more efficiently and effectively towards attaining the ultimate goal of rendering speedy justice to litigants," an official spokesperson said.

A bill to amend the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, would be introduced in Parliament soon, she said.

In 1986, the number of judges in the Supreme Court were increased from 18 to 25 plus the Chief Justice.

Reports said there were about 47,000 cases pending before the court till January this year.

The Government had earlier informed Parliament that the pendency of cases in the apex court had increased by about 25 per cent since 2006.