3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Aug 3, 2026 09:56 PM IST
Both Houses of Parliament witnessed disruptions on Monday as opposition MPs raised issues ranging from the absence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the alleged theft of donations at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple.
The Lok Sabha accomplished little legislative business but managed to pass the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, which paves the way for increasing the number of judges in the Supreme Court to tackle the backlog of cases.
This was in addition to the tabling of two other significant Bills — the Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026, which proposes changes to the governance structure of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and the Bankers’ Book Evidence Bill, 2026.
It is intended to expand the definition of bankers’ books to include all forms of records maintained by banks, whether in physical, electronic, digital, virtual, cloud-based or any other form, thereby providing a comprehensive, technology-neutral and future-ready legal framework.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were disrupted as the Opposition continued with their demand that Home Minister Amit Shah should address the House on the police action against protesting students last month.
Some MPs also raised the issue of the alleged theft of donations at the Ram Temple. After the listed papers were laid on the table, as soon as Chairman C P Radhakrishnan called on the MPs to start Zero Hour, the Opposition MPs began raising slogans while holding placards.
Asking the Opposition MPs not to hold placards in the House, the Chairman said: “Don’t force me to take some action.” With the disruptions continuing, the proceedings were adjourned till 2pm, less than 20 minutes after the House had convened for the day at 11am.
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In the Lok Sabha, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, was taken for consideration after being tabled by Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal amid a din from the Opposition benches. The proposed legislation was passed shortly after it was put up to vote. The House was subsequently adjourned for the day.
In May, the Union Cabinet had cleared the Bill to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court, but soon thereafter the government brought an ordinance. After the ordinance, five judges were appointed to the apex court based on the upgraded sanctioned strength. After the ordinance was issued, the sanctioned strength of the apex court went up to 38 from 34, including the Chief Justice of India.
According to the Bill, the volume of litigation in the Supreme Court has constantly been on the rise due to a persistent gap between institution and final disposal of cases in the court.
As of January 1 this year, 92,101 cases were pending in the Supreme Court.
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Even while working at near-full sanctioned capacity of 34 judges since 2019, the Supreme Court recorded 75,410 fresh matters in 2025 against a disposal of 65,615 cases.