Courts must keep pace with the rising volume of disputes accompanying population growth and expanding economic activity. 2 min read May 11, 2026 06:57 AM IST First published on: May 11, 2026 at 06:10 AM IST The Union Cabinet’s decision to approve a Bill increasing the Supreme Court’s strength from 34 to 38 judges (including the Chief Justice of India) is a welcome step towards easing the backlog of cases before the apex court. However, without structural reforms, the judicial hours that the four new judges may contribute could be absorbed by the ever-expanding docket. According to the National Judicial Data Grid, as of May 7, the Supreme Court is burdened with over 93,000 pending cases — more than a 50 per cent increase since 2019, when the number of SC judges was last raised. Pendency before the SC accounts for only about 0.14 per cent of total case pendency across all courts. This is negligible compared to around 12 per cent in the high courts and 88 per cent in the district courts.…