Monsoon Session: LS to take up Births & Deaths Amendment Bill and SC Judges Amendment Bill
The Lok Sabha listed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 for consideration and passage during the day's business.
The Rajya Sabha listed the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 for consideration and passage.
The Lok Sabha also took up a motion to extend the term of the Joint Committee examining the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
Both Houses convened at 11 a.m., following the standard Monsoon Session sitting schedule.
Ordinary Bill Procedure in a Bicameral Parliament
All three principal Bills listed this day — births and deaths registration, Supreme Court judge strength, and MSME regulation — are ordinary (non-Money) Bills, which under Article 107 of the Constitution may be introduced in either House and must be passed in identical form by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha before being presented for the President's assent under Article 111.
Key Details
- An ordinary Bill can originate in either House (unlike a Money Bill, which under Article 110 can originate only in the Lok Sabha); the Registration of Births and Deaths Amendment Bill and the Supreme Court Judges Bill were taken up in the Lok Sabha, while the MSME Bill was taken up in the Rajya Sabha.
- If the two Houses disagree on an ordinary Bill and deadlock persists, Article 108 empowers the President to summon a joint sitting of both Houses, where the matter is decided by majority of members present and voting.
- The President under Article 111 may give assent, withhold assent, or (for non-Money Bills) return the Bill for reconsideration; if Parliament repasses it with or without amendments, assent becomes obligatory.
Each Bill listed on 31 July 2026 illustrates the ordinary-Bill route — introduced in one House, requiring passage by both before assent — as distinct from the Money Bill procedure that would confine a Bill exclusively to Lok Sabha origin and Rajya Sabha recommendation only.
Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 — Delayed-Registration Reform
The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026 amends the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (Act No. 18 of 1969), the parent statute for compulsory registration of vital events, by tightening the magisterial-authorisation chain for delayed registrations.
Key Details
- Under the amended scheme, registration of a birth or death reported one to two years after occurrence requires an order from a District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, or an Executive Magistrate so authorised, while registration reported more than two years after occurrence requires an order from a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class.
- This builds on the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023, which had made the birth certificate a single proof-of-date-of-birth document for school admission, Aadhaar enrolment, voter registration, driving licences, and government appointments, and created a national digital database maintained by the Registrar General of India.
- The distinction between Executive Magistrates (part of the administrative hierarchy) and Judicial Magistrates (part of the judicial hierarchy, controlled by the High Court) reflects the separation-of-judiciary-from-executive principle in Article 50, a Directive Principle of State Policy.
This Bill was on the Lok Sabha's agenda for consideration and passage on 31 July 2026, layering stricter, graded scrutiny onto delayed registrations without altering the 2023 digitisation reforms.
Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 — Sanctioned Strength
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 amends the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, the statute Parliament uses under Article 124(1) of the Constitution to fix the Court's sanctioned judicial strength.
Key Details
- The Bill raises the number of Supreme Court judges, excluding the Chief Justice of India, from 33 to 37 — taking the total sanctioned strength, including the CJI, from 34 to 38.
- The Bill replaces an Ordinance to the same effect issued in May 2026, a routine constitutional mechanism under Article 123 for legislating when Parliament is not in session, subject to subsequent parliamentary approval.
- Sanctioned strength is a statutory ceiling, not a guarantee — the Court's working strength (judges actually sitting) depends on subsequent Collegium recommendations and government notification of appointments under Article 124(2), a separate process from raising the ceiling itself.
The Bill was listed for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on 31 July 2026, converting the earlier Ordinance into a standing Act and formally enlarging the statutory ceiling on Supreme Court judges to 38 (including the CJI).
MSME Development Act, 2006 — Classification and Delayed-Payment Reform
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, listed in the Rajya Sabha, amends the MSME Development Act, 2006, which defines and regulates this business category and underpins protections against delayed payments to small suppliers.
Key Details
- The existing Act classifies enterprises using dual investment-and-turnover thresholds (in force since 1 July 2020): Micro up to Rs 1 crore investment/Rs 5 crore turnover, Small up to Rs 10 crore/Rs 50 crore, and Medium up to Rs 50 crore/Rs 250 crore; the 2026 Bill empowers the central government to notify these classification criteria rather than fixing them in the Act itself.
- The Bill strengthens dispute resolution for delayed payments — for instance, mandating release of a share of an arbitral award in an MSME's favour if a buyer's legal challenge remains pending beyond a specified period, and requiring a pre-deposit from a buyer contesting such an award.
- It also proposes a national digital platform for free, voluntary MSME registration and directs routing of payments to MSME suppliers through the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), an electronic platform for financing trade receivables.
This Bill was listed for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha on 31 July 2026, addressing the long-standing governance problem of delayed payments to small enterprises through tighter enforcement and a more flexible, notification-based classification framework.
- Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026: amends the 1969 Act; introduces District/Sub-Divisional/Executive Magistrate approval for registrations delayed 1–2 years, and Judicial Magistrate First Class approval beyond 2 years.
- Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026: raises sanctioned strength (excluding CJI) from 33 to 37, i.e., 34 to 38 including the CJI; replaces a May 2026 Ordinance.
- MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026: shifts classification thresholds to government notification; mandates minimum interim payment on pending arbitral-award challenges and a pre-deposit for appealing buyers; introduces a national free MSME registration platform.
- Additional business: motion to extend the Joint Committee's term examining the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment), the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
- Both Houses convened at 11 a.m. on 31 July 2026, per standard Monsoon Session hours.