On August 3, 2026, the Lok Sabha passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 without debate amid continuous Opposition protests. The Bill increases the Supreme Court's sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India, aiming to reduce the backlog of over 92,000 pending cases and enable more frequent Constitution Bench hearings. This legislation replaces an ordinance from earlier this year, under which five additional judges have already been appointed.
The Opposition protests focused on police actions against student demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and allegations of theft of offerings at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, causing repeated adjournments of the House. Despite the disruptions, the Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026, which allows electronic and cloud-based banking records to be admissible in court, and the Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026, designed to strengthen the institute's governance, research, and academic autonomy, were introduced by voice vote.
