<P> The registry of the Supreme Court is headed by the Secretary - General who is assisted by 8 registrars, several additional and deputy registrars, etc., with 1770 employees in all (221 gazetted officers, 805 non-gazetted and 744 Class IV employees) Article 146 of the Constitution deals with the appointments of officers and servants of the Supreme Court registry . </P> <P> Supreme Court Rules, 2013 entitle only those advocates who are registered with the supreme court, called' Advocates - on - Record' to appear, act and plead for a party in the court . Those advocates who are designated as' Senior Advocates' by the Supreme Court or any of the High Courts can appear for clients along with an Advocate - on - Record . Any other advocate can appear for a party along with or under instructions from an Advocate - on - Record . </P> <P> As originally enacted, the Constitution of India provided for a Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and 7 judges . In the early years, a full bench of the Supreme Court sat together to hear the cases presented before them . As the work of the Court increased and cases began to accumulate, Parliament increased the number of judges from the original 8 in 1950 to 10 in 1956, 13 in 1960, 17 in 1977, 26 in 1986 and 31 in 2008 (current strength). As the number of the judges has increased, they sit in smaller benches of two or three (referred to as a division bench)--coming together in larger benches of five or more (referred to as a constitution bench) when required to settle fundamental questions of law . A bench may refer a case before it to a larger bench, should the need arise . </P> <P> A citizen of India who has been </P>

How many number of judges in supreme court of india