Seventeen judicial officers — two Supreme Court judges, four judges of Uttarakhand high court, nine Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) judges and two judges from the district judiciary — have recused themselves from cases involving Uttarakhand -cadre Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi over the years.
Judge Recuses Himself from IFS Officers Case
On September 21, Judge Rajveer Singh Verma of the CAT Delhi bench recused himself from hearing a petition filed by Chaturvedi. The petition challenges a November 2021 order from the Uttarakhand government concerning the Appraisal Report Channel of Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers. In the recusal order, Verma stated, “After hearing the matter for some time, Hon’ble Mr. Rajveer Singh Verma, Member (J), recuses himself from hearing this matter. The Registry is directed to list the matter before the appropriate Bench and notify the same.” This marks another instance in which judges and judicial officers have withdrawn from cases involving Chaturvedi over the years, citing various reasons.
In September-October 2025, Justice Alok Verma and Justice Ravindra Maithani of the Uttarakhand high court recused themselves from hearing a contempt case filed by Chaturvedi against CAT members and the Registry over alleged wilful disobedience of a high court stay order. The recusal of judicial officers in Chaturvedi’s cases dates back to November 2013, when then Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjan Gogoi recused himself from hearing a case seeking a CBI investigation into allegations of corruption and harassment raised by Chaturvedi. In August 2016, then Supreme Court judge Justice UU Lalit also recused himself from the case.
