SC to again hear case in which it had rebuked High Court judge for ‘absurd’ order 

The Supreme Court is scheduled on August 8 to hear again a disposed of case in which it had, earlier in the week, made scathing observations against an Allahabad High Court judge for passing an “absurd” order.

A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan had reprimanded the High Court judge, Justice Prashant Kumar, for “cutting a sorry figure for himself”, and making “a mockery of justice”.

The order had also brought to fore the Supreme Court’s apprehensions about the High Court judiciary’s performance.

“We are at our wits’ end to understand what is wrong with the Indian judiciary at the level of the High Court. At times we are left wondering whether such orders are passed on some extraneous considerations or it is sheer ignorance of law. Whatever it be, passing of such absurd and erroneous orders is something unpardonable,” a Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan had observed in an August 4 order, disposing of the case.  

The apex court had taken stern exception to Justice Kumar finding nothing wrong in a litigant filing a criminal case against a buyer in a purely civil dispute over an unpaid balance of money in a sale transaction.

The Bench said the High Court judge had found nothing wrong in allowing a criminal case for ‘criminal breach of trust’ to be registered in the civil dispute. 

The Bench had further asked the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice to remove Justice Kumar from the criminal roster and not assign any criminal case to the latter till he demitted office.