New Delhi, Aug 11 (UNI) The Allahabad High Court today announced a roster change, placing Justice Prashant Kumar, recently at the centre of a judicial controversy, on a Division Bench headed by Justice Arindam Sinha.
The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s August 8 clarification modifying its August 4 order, which had directed the Chief Justice of the High Court to “immediately withdraw the present criminal determination” from Justice Kumar.
While the top court later deleted that direction, it did not remove a key paragraph relating to the administrative handling of the matter.
The August 4 ruling by a Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had followed an appeal by M/S Shikhar Chemicals challenging a May 2025 decision by Justice Kumar.
In that decision, Justice Kumar dismissed a plea to quash criminal proceedings arising from a commercial dispute, reasoning that criminal prosecution could proceed because civil suits “take years to conclude.”
The Supreme Court expressed shock at this reasoning, remanding the matter to a different judge.
The directive to bar Justice Kumar from handling criminal matters until his retirement drew pushback within the judiciary.
At least 13 Allahabad High Court judges, led by Justice Arindam Sinha, wrote to Chief Justice Arun Bhansali, urging a full court meeting to resist the Apex Court directive.
Amid the controversy, the Supreme Court reconsidered the matter on the request of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai.
In its August 8 order, the court stressed that it had “no intention to cause embarrassment or cast aspersions” on Justice Kumar, underscoring the need to preserve the institution’s honour and dignity.
It deleted the contentious paragraphs of its earlier order but reiterated that it could intervene in cases raising institutional concerns affecting the rule of law.
The Bench also reaffirmed that the Chief Justice of a High Court is the master of the roster and left it to Chief Justice Bhansali to decide Justice Kumar’s assignments.
Monday’s roster change now formally places Justice Kumar alongside Justice Sinha in a Division Bench.
