NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court faces a crisis of sorts as its present judge strength has depleted below the numbers sanctioned more than a decade ago and the situation could worsen in future with no urgent steps being taken by the five-member Collegium led by Chief Justice S A Bobde to fill the vacancies.
The sanctioned strength of SC Judges was increased from 26 to 31, including the CJI, in 2009, but its present strength is 30 Judges. With five more retirements - Justice Indu Malhotra (March 13), CJI Bobde (April 23), Justices Ashok Bhushan (July 4), R F Nariman (August 12) and Navin Sinha (August 18) - scheduled in the next six months, the strength could deplete below 1988 level, when it was increased from 18 to 26. The number of SC judges was increased from 31 to 34 in 2019.