Parliament passes bill to increase number of Supreme Court judges
New Delhi: Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill which seeks to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from the present 30 to 33 with a view to reducing pendency of cases.
Moving "The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019" for consideration and return, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "I would urge the House to consider the Bill"
Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "We have no objection to it...but members of Parliament want to discuss it as we normally do not discuss judiciary...We get chance once in a decade or six months...We would also want to know about the judiciary."
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said it is a Money Bill, to which the Law Minister said that he was willing to have a discussion on the judiciary in November.
Satish Chandra of the BSP urged the government to ensure representation of Schedule Castes in the Supreme Court.
Leader of the House Thaawarchand Gehlot urged the House to pass both the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019 and "The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
However, the Chair took up the Supreme Court Bill alone, which was passed without discussion. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on August 5.
As of now, the Supreme Court has a sanctioned strength of 30 judges, plus the chief justice of India -- 31 judges. After Parliament's nod, its sanctioned strength will go up to 33, plus the CJI.
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SC asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave; seeks coordinated action
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control.
The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard.
“As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request”, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday.
The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks.
Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present.
The verdict, delivered on April 15, 2025, had mandated several institutional reforms, including completion of trials in trafficking cases within six months on a day-to-day basis.
It had also directed strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and improving investigation standards.
Besides asking for setting up of state-level committees to monitor vulnerable trafficking hotspots, it had asked the authorities to treat missing children cases as trafficking unless proven otherwise.
Earlier, the bench had termed the compliance reports filed by a few states as "nothing but an eye wash."
On Wednesday, the bench noted that Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Punjab had still failed to file reports in the prescribed format.
When the home secretary of Madhya Pradesh offered an apology for the lapse, the bench granted a "final opportunity" but warned that continued failure would lead to states being officially branded as "defaulting".
The bench noted that at least 15 states are yet to constitute review committees mandated to identify and monitor trafficking-prone areas.
The matter will now be heard on April 29.
