On August 4, the Supreme Court bench had ordered Justice Prashant Kumar of Allahabad High Court to sit in a division bench with a senior judge. Criminal cases should not be given to his single bench.
On August 4, the Supreme Court had directed that the criminal case would not be heard in the single bench of Prashant Kumar.
The Supreme Court has changed the order of removing a judge of Allahabad High Court from hearing criminal cases. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and some other judges had expressed concern over this order of the bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan. 13 judges of Allahabad High Court had also written a letter to their Chief Justice asking him not to obey this order. They said that the Supreme Court does not exercise administrative control over the High Court.
On Monday, August 4, the Supreme Court had settled the matter, but it was again listed for hearing on Friday (August 8, 2025). Justice Pardiwala, while reading the pre-written order, said, 'The Chief Justice of India had requested us to change the order. Due to this, the case was relisted. Our intention was not to embarrass the judge or cast aspersions on him. Our concern is about people's respect for the judiciary.'
Justice Pardiwala further said, 'We know that the Chief Justice of the High Court is the master of the roster. We do not want to interfere in his administrative work. We are removing paragraphs 25 and 26 written about the judge in our previous order and leaving this matter for the consideration of the Chief Justice of the High Court.'
On 4th August, a bench of two judges of the Supreme Court had given strict orders regarding Justice Prashant Kumar of Allahabad High Court. The judges had asked the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court to make Justice Prashant Kumar sit in a division bench with a senior judge. If it becomes necessary to make him sit in a single bench, then do not let him hear any criminal case.
The judges, who were angry with the decision of Justice Prashant Kumar, who justified filing a criminal case in a civil dispute, had said, 'We have never seen a worse order than this. The judge who gave the order has made a mockery of justice. Sometimes one has to think whether such orders are given due to lack of knowledge of law or due to some external reason.'
The case over which the Supreme Court had expressed its displeasure was a business dispute between two companies. One party had filed a criminal case in Kanpur after not receiving payment from the other party. In an order dated May 5, 2025, Justice Prashant Kumar said that civil litigation takes a long time, hence the criminal case filed by the aggrieved company will not be cancelled.
Angry with the decision, the Supreme Court had cancelled it without issuing any notice. Sending the case back to the High Court, the Chief Justice of the High Court was asked to assign it to some other judge for hearing. Also, it was said about Justice Prashant Kumar that as long as he is in office, he should never be allowed to hear any criminal case.
Now the Supreme Court has withdrawn that part of its order. However, the judges have reiterated the concern that civil cases are being registered like criminal cases in UP. The court has said, 'For 90 percent of the people, the High Court is the final court. Not everyone can reach the Supreme Court, therefore, the High Court should take legally correct decisions.'
