Govt to increase no of SC judges from 25 to 30

New Delhi, Feb 21: Keen to speed up trails and clear up the backlog of cases, the Government has proposed an increase of Supreme Court judges from 25 to 30.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the proposal, excluding the Chief Justice, to 30. "The increase in the number of judges will allow the Supreme Court to function more efficiently and effectively towards attaining the ultimate goal of rendering speedy justice to litigants," an official spokesperson said. She added that a bill will be introduced in Parliament soon to amend the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956.

Earlier, the numbers of judges in the Supreme Court was increased from 18 to 25, including the Chief Justice in 1986. here are about 47,000 pending cases before the apex court as on January 2008.

ANI