Parliament to take up Births and Deaths, Supreme Court judges Bills today
The Lok Sabha took up the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, which raises the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India, replacing an ordinance promulgated earlier in 2026.
The Lok Sabha also considered amendments related to birth and death registration procedures.
The Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Earlier in the session, Parliament cleared the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill addressing examination malpractice, and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, extending statutory protection to the national song.
Article 124(1) and the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956
Article 124(1) of the Constitution provides for a Supreme Court consisting of the Chief Justice of India and, "until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number," not more than seven other judges. This makes the actual sanctioned strength a matter of ordinary legislation — the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 — rather than a constitutional amendment, so Parliament can revise it by simple majority.
Key Details
- 1956 Act: 7 judges + CJI (total 8)
- Amendment Acts progressively raised the number: 1960 (13+CJI=14), 1977 (17+CJI=18), 1986 (25+CJI=26), 2009 (30+CJI=31), 2019 (33+CJI=34)
- The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 proposes raising the strength to 37 judges excluding the CJI (total 38), regularising an ordinance issued earlier in 2026 that had already increased the sanctioned strength on an interim basis
The Bill taken up in the Lok Sabha converts the interim ordinance into a permanent amendment to the 1956 Act, continuing the pattern of periodic strength increases driven by rising case pendency.
Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023
The parent Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 governs civil registration of vital events in India. The 2023 Amendment Act digitised the framework, creating a national and state-level database of registered births and deaths and making the birth certificate a single proof-of-date-of-birth document for multiple public purposes.
Key Details
- Enables digital registration and electronic delivery of birth/death certificates
- Birth certificates issued after the Act's commencement can be used as sole proof of date and place of birth for admission to educational institutions, issuance of a driving licence, preparation of electoral rolls, Aadhaar enrolment, registration of marriage, and appointment to a government post
- The Registrar General of India maintains the national database; state governments maintain corresponding state databases, shareable with authorised agencies subject to government approval
- In institutional deaths, the treating medical institution must furnish a cause-of-death certificate to the Registrar
The birth-registration amendments before the Lok Sabha extend this digital civil-registration architecture, reinforcing the birth certificate's role as a foundational identity document across government services.
Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 criminalises insults to the national flag, the Constitution, and the national anthem. The 2026 Amendment Bill, passed earlier in the session, extends equivalent statutory protection to the national song, "Vande Mataram," tracing its status to the Constituent Assembly's 24 January 1950 declaration that gave the national song status equal to the national anthem.
Key Details
- Original 1971 Act: insult to the flag or Constitution punishable with imprisonment up to 3 years, fine, or both (Section 2); disruption of the national anthem carries the same maximum penalty (Section 3)
- 2026 Amendment: criminalises obstruction of, or insult to, the national song; first conviction draws imprisonment up to 3 years and/or fine; a second or subsequent conviction carries a mandatory minimum of one year's imprisonment
- Introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 24 July 2026 and passed by both Houses within the same Monsoon Session
This Bill was among the pieces of legislation Parliament had already cleared before taking up the Supreme Court judges and registration Bills, reflecting the session's broader legislative-symbolic agenda around national identity provisions.
MSMED Act, 2006 — Classification Framework
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 provides the statutory basis for classifying enterprises and extending them regulatory and credit support. Enterprises are classified using a composite criterion of investment in plant, machinery or equipment and annual turnover, revised in 2020 to a uniform standard applicable to both manufacturing and service enterprises.
Key Details
- Micro: investment up to ₹1 crore, turnover up to ₹5 crore
- Small: investment up to ₹10 crore, turnover up to ₹50 crore
- Medium: investment up to ₹50 crore, turnover up to ₹250 crore
- Pre-2020, manufacturing and service enterprises had separate (lower) thresholds; the 2020 revision unified them and added the turnover criterion
The Rajya Sabha discussion on MSME development engages this classification and support framework, which determines eligibility for priority-sector lending, public procurement reservation, and delayed-payment protections under the Act.
- Supreme Court sanctioned strength: proposed increase from 33 to 37 judges (excluding CJI) — total from 34 to 38
- Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023: birth certificate usable as single proof of date/place of birth for education, driving licence, voter list, Aadhaar, marriage registration, and government jobs
- MSME classification (2020 norms): Micro (≤₹1 cr investment/≤₹5 cr turnover), Small (≤₹10 cr/≤₹50 cr), Medium (≤₹50 cr/≤₹250 cr)
- Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026: introduced in Rajya Sabha on 24 July 2026; repeat-offence minimum sentence of 1 year imprisonment