The government has decided to increase the number of Supreme Court judges by 10 per cent. This will add three more judges to the apex court to help deal with the pendency of cases. The Union cabinet approved the decision to bring a bill to increase the number of judges.
This decision comes after Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had written to Prime Miniser Narendra Modi, in June, suggesting that the number of apex court judges be increased. Once the bill is passed, the number of Supreme Court judges will increase to 33 from the current 30 and his excludes the CJI. Overall then the strength will be 34. There are over 59,000 cases pending in the top court.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 was last amended in 2009 to increase the judges' strength from 25 to 30 (excluding the CJI).
Gogoi in his letter to the prime minister had said that the judge strength was increased gradually. In 1988, the judge strength of the SC was increased from 18 to 26, and then in 2009, it was increased to 31, including the CJI.
“I request you to kindly consider, on top priority, to augment the judge-strength in the SC appropriately so that it can function more efficiently and effectively as it will go a long way to attain the ultimate goal of rendering timely justice to the litigant public,” Gogoi said in the letter.
Gogoi in his letter had said that though the feeder cadre of chief justice and judges of the high courts has increased, their number has not increased.
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The CJI had also requested the prime minister to increase the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years to help tide over the pendency of cases. For this, a constitutional amendment bill needs to be passed in the parliament.
The number of apex court judges is fixed under the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act. It was originally introduced in 1956 with a maximum of 10 judges (excluding the CJI). The number was increased to 13 by amendment in 1960, and to 17 in 1977.
The Union cabinet also approved two more bills to be introduced in the ongoing session of the parliament. These are the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 which will pave way for extending the benefit of reservation of up to 10 per cent for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in educational institutions and public employment alongside existing reservations.
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said the cabinet also approved the of Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The bill seeks to fulfil the objectives of reducing the regulatory or compliance burden of the registered chit funds industry as well as protecting the interest of the chit subscribers.
Space Collaboration
In another cabinet decision, the government decided to set up of ISRO Technical Liaison Unit (ITLU) at Moscow, Russia for coordination with space agencies of neighbouring countries for its space mission, Gaganyaan. The Gaganyaan programme requires development of some of the key technologies and establishment of specialised facilities, which are essential to support life in space.
“Keeping in view the 15th August, 2022 timeline for realisation of the Gaganyaan human space programme, it is prudent to avail technical cooperation from international space agencies, who have already demonstrated their technical capabilities in specific areas. Russia, being one of the space faring nations, it is envisaged to collaborate with Russia extensively in various fields of relevance,” officials said about the setting up of ISRO unit in Russia.
The ISRO Technical Liaison Unit will enable effective technical coordination with Russia and neighbouring countries. The Indian space agency will be able to collaborate with space agencies and industries in Russia, and neighbouring countries for mutually synergetic outcomes.
The ITLU Moscow office would be managed by an ISRO Scientist/Engineer designated as “Counsellor (Space)” on deputation from ISRO and supported by a staff locally sourced. The process is planned to be completed within six months from the date of approval.
The ISRO already has technical liaison units at Washington, USA and Paris, France to liaise with various government and space agencies in the US and Europe.