In a notable reversal, the Supreme Court on Friday withdrew its earlier directive removing Justice Prashant Kumar of the Allahabad High Court from handling criminal cases. The decision followed the intervention of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), who issued a letter calling for a reconsideration of the controversial order.
The rollback comes amid mounting concern from within the Allahabad High Court. On Thursday, August 7, thirteen sitting judges wrote to Chief Justice Arun Bhansali, urging him to convene a Full Court meeting and recommending that the Supreme Court’s directive against Justice Kumar not be enforced. The letter marked a rare collective pushback from within the higher judiciary.
Earlier, on August 4, a bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan had ordered the administrative side of the Allahabad High Court to remove Justice Kumar from its criminal roster. The directive was issued while hearing an appeal from a private company seeking to quash criminal proceedings tied to a commercial dispute.
The bench had delivered a strongly worded judgment, questioning the quality of judicial orders at the High Court level. “We are at our wits’ end to understand what is wrong with the Indian judiciary at the level of the High Court,” the court observed, further describing some decisions as possibly influenced by “extraneous considerations” or “sheer ignorance of law.” It labeled the orders under scrutiny as “absurd,” “erroneous,” and “unpardonable.”
However, with the CJI stepping in and following the internal dissent within the Allahabad High Court, the apex court decided to rescind its directive, allowing Justice Kumar to resume adjudication of criminal matters.
The development underscores the tensions between judicial accountability and institutional independence, highlighting the judiciary’s ongoing efforts to protect both procedural integrity and public trust.
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