Question:medium

What is the total strength of the Supreme Court including the Chief Justice of India?

Updated On: Sep 21, 2026
  • 27
  • 29
  • 31
  • 32
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

The strength of the Supreme Court is not fixed permanently by the Constitution itself, it is set by Parliament through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, and has been increased several times, so the right approach is to work from the applicable figure at the time rather than assume a number.

  1. 31: After the 2009 amendment to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, the Court's sanctioned strength stood at thirty judges besides the Chief Justice of India, which is thirty-one judges in total including the CJI.
  2. 27, 29: Both of these are lower figures that do not match the sanctioned strength after the 2009 increase, they undercount the total.
  3. 32: This is higher than the figure fixed by the applicable amendment and does not match the sanctioned strength at the relevant time.

Since the question is about the sanctioned strength including the CJI, and the applicable statutory figure at the time gives thirty judges plus the CJI, the arithmetic points to thirty-one.

Let's summarize:

  • The Supreme Court's strength is fixed by statute, not the Constitution, and has changed over time.
  • Under the applicable figure, thirty puisne judges plus the CJI gives a total of thirty-one.

The correct answer is 31.

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