Justice Prashant Kumar Moved to Civil Division Bench in Allahabad HC After Supreme Court Order

The Allahabad High Court has re-configured its bench roster with Justice Prashant Kumar now sitting on a division bench alongside Justice Arindam Sinha, effective August 11, 2025. The newly constituted bench will hear civil matters, including family court appeals, petitions under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, and certain writ petitions, explicitly excluding criminal litigation.

The administrative change comes after a turbulent week in which a Supreme Court bench sharply criticised an order passed by Justice Kumar and issued sweeping administrative directions in the case before it.

On August 4, 2025, a bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan delivered a blistering judgment in a petition filed by M/S Shikhar Chemicals. The top court set aside a May 2025 decision by Justice Kumar, who had declined to quash criminal proceedings in what was essentially a commercial dispute, remarking that civil disputes were being pursued through criminal channels because “civil suits take years to conclude".  The judge had written, "...asking the complainant to pursue civil remedies for the purpose of recovery of his balance amount will be very unreasonable as civil suit may take a long time".

The bench described the High Court order as “one of the worst and most erroneous orders” it had encountered, directing that Justice Kumar be withdrawn from criminal jurisdiction, and directed him to sit with a senior judge until retirement.

Taking note of Justice Kumar's observations, the Supreme Court said, "This is the understanding of the High Court judge that even ultimately, rightly or wrongly, the accused is convicted, trial court will award complainant the balance amount. The findings recorded in para 12 are shocking. We are left with no other option, but to set aside this order even without issuing notice to the respondents. In the result, we partly allow this petition and set aside the impugned order passed by the High Court. We remand matter to the High Court for fresh consideration".

However, following intervention by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, the Supreme Court reviewed its earlier directions. In its August 8, 2025 order, the bench deleted the most contentious paragraphs, stating there was “no intention to cause embarrassment or cast aspersions” on Justice Kumar.

"The High Courts are not separate islands that can be disassociated from this institution. Whatever we said was to uphold the dignity and authority of this institution. We were concerned about the appropriate direction to be issued to ensure the interest of justice", the apex court observed.