Justice Prashant Kumar, recently at the centre of a judicial controversy following a Supreme Court directive, has been assigned to a division bench of the Allahabad High Court to hear civil matters. The bench will be headed by senior judge Justice Arindam Sinha, according to the court’s new roster.
The development follows the Supreme Court’s August 4 order, in which a bench had instructed the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court to “immediately withdraw the present criminal determination” from Justice Kumar. The same order contained strong criticism of Justice Kumar’s reasoning in a case where he held that civil disputes could be pursued through criminal prosecution on the ground that civil suits “take years to conclude.”
The directive sparked strong reactions within the judiciary. Several judges of the Allahabad High Court reportedly wrote to the Chief Justice, urging a full court meeting and advocating defiance of the Supreme Court’s instructions. The letter was authored by Justice Sinha, who now heads the bench with Justice Kumar.
On August 8, after a letter from the Chief Justice of India, the same apex court bench revisited the matter, deleting critical remarks against Justice Kumar and withdrawing its earlier direction barring him from handling criminal cases until retirement. The court clarified that it had “no intention to cause embarrassment or cast aspersions” and stressed the importance of protecting the institutional dignity of the judiciary.
However, while removing paragraphs 25 and 26 of its earlier order, the Supreme Court left the application of paragraph 24 — concerning the reassignment of criminal work — to the discretion of the Chief Justice of the High Court.
Under the latest roster, the Sinha–Kumar bench will hear civil appeals related to family courts, cases under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, and miscellaneous civil matters.
