Increasing Supreme Court Judges Won't Reduce Pendency; Raise Retirement Age, Judges' Pay: Rajya Sabha MP & Lawyer Haris Beeran

Supreme Court lawyer and Member of Parliament Haris Beeran in his speech before the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (August 5) called the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 a “cosmetic change”, adding that merely increasing the strength of Supreme Court Judges would not alleviate the increasing burden of piling cases.For context, the Bill–which seeks to increase the strength of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice of India–was passed by both houses of the Parliament and is now awaiting President's assent. Beeran in his speech in the Rajya Sabha, sought structural changes in the judicial system, including increasing the strength of judges in High Court as well as trial courts. "This is, according to me, a cosmetic change, which they are trying to introduce. There has to be a structural change in judicial system because cases are piling up everywhere. Only four judges' strength in the Supreme Court will not suffice. Judges' strength should be increased both in High Courts and in trial courts,” Beeran said.The MP said that the retirement age of the Supreme Court and High Court judges should be increased, as well as there should be parity in the retirement age of both courts. For this, he reasoned, “The average lifespan is 80 years. So, experience holds the key. A High Court judge retires at 62 (years), and Supreme Court judge retires at 65(years). So, they are in the peak of their career at that point of time. You should consider increasing the age of retirement.”Further calling Judges' salary meagre in comparison to Supreme Court senior counsels' salary, which he claimed could be “Rs 1 crore per day”, Beeran demanded that salary of judges be increased to Rs 20 Lakh a month, “because only then you will get the best of the lot.”He also criticised the lack of transparency in the judicial appointments process. Beeran said that although the Union minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju claimed that the central government has no role in appointments, but the government often does not clear the recommendations given by the collegium."There is role for the Central Government. When Collegium recommendations are given to Central Government, Central Government will not clear the recommendations at all...There is no transparency,” he said.Meanwhile Rajya Sabha MP from Trinamool Congress and senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy in her maiden speech on Wednesday remarked that the government doesn't want to appoint judges who don't align with their political ideologies.Guruswamy stated that the "problems of the judiciary" can't be solved by merely appointing more judges because the Centre doesn't want to appoint judges from diverse backgrounds. She said: "The problems of the judiciary are not going to be solved by passing an ordinance and increase of four more judges in the Supreme Court. The problems are that the central government will not appoint women to the judiciary, they will not appoint lower-caste people to the judiciary, they will not appoint religious minorities, gay people to the judiciary."She added: "You[Centre] only appoint judges who you think have your ideology." The Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, who was presiding over the session, however interrupted her to say that her statements will not go on the record.

Increasing Supreme Court Judges Won't Reduce Pendency; Raise Retirement Age, Judges' Pay: Rajya Sabha MP & Lawyer Haris Beeran

Amruta Gangajaliwale

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Increasing Supreme Court Judges Won't Reduce Pendency; Raise Retirement Age, Judges' Pay: Rajya Sabha MP & Lawyer Haris Beeran

Amruta Gangajaliwale

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