Prayagraj,

08 Aug (HS): A group of Allahabad High Court judges has written to Chief

Justice Arun Bhansali, requesting him to call a full court meeting in reaction

to the Supreme Court's recent decision to remove Justice Prashant Kumar from

the criminal list. Justice Arindam Sinha wrote the letter, which expresses his

dissatisfaction with the Supreme Court ruling issued on August 4, 2025, and

seven judges signed it.

In

its ruling, the Supreme Court expressed severe reservations about Justice

Kumar's judicial reasoning and asked the high court administration to remove

him off the criminal list. It further

requested that he be sent to a division bench beside a senior judge until he

retired.

A

panel of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan gave the instructions after

hearing a plea filed by M/s Shikhar Chemicals.

The corporation had petitioned the Supreme Court to stop criminal

proceedings stemming from a commercial disagreement. The high court had

previously denied the company's petition, with Justice Prashant Kumar ruling

that forcing the complainant to pursue a civil remedy would be unreasonable,

and that criminal actions may be used to recover the debts.

The

Supreme Court overruled this rationale, saying, We are shocked by the

findings recorded in paragraph 12 of the impugned order.” The judge has gone so

far as to say that ordering the complaint to pursue a civil remedy would be

inappropriate because civil litigation take a long time, and that the

complainant should be allowed to initiate criminal procedures for recovery. The

Supreme Court considered this approach unworkable, overturned the high court's

judgment, and ordered that the issue be tried again by a new judge.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi