Collegium & Judicial Appointments in 2026
India's higher judiciary has spent 2026 getting bigger and staying contested. President Droupadi Murmu promulgated an Ordinance on 16 May 2026 lifting the Supreme Court's sanctioned strength from 33 to 37 judges besides the Chief Justice, the first rise since 2019; the Lok Sabha passed the matching Bill on 3 August 2026 and the Rajya Sabha cleared it on 5 August, completing Parliament's part of the job. Around that expansion sit older, unresolved arguments: who the collegium picks and how opaquely, why several High Courts have no voice on the top bench, and how nearly impossible it is to remove a sitting judge - dramatised when 107 Opposition MPs moved against a Madras High Court judge in late 2025.
- collegium
- Supreme Court
- Article 124
- Article 123
- NJAC
- judicial appointments
- Number of Judges Ordinance
- Article 218
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