Seventeen judges have stepped aside from cases involving IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi
A total of seventeen judges, including two Supreme Court justices and several high-court and tribunal members, have recused themselves from matters linked to Uttarakhand IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, the latest being CAT judge Rajveer Singh Verma on September 21.
Since 2013, a growing number of judicial officers have opted out of hearing cases that involve Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service officer serving the Uttarakhand cadre. The tally now stands at seventeen: two judges from the Supreme Court, four from the Uttarakhand High Court, nine members of the Central Administrative Tribunal, and two district-level judges. The latest recusal was recorded on September 21, when CAT Delhi bench judge Rajveer Singh Verma withdrew from a petition contesting a November 2021 Uttarakhand government order related to the IFS appraisal report channel.
Prior instances include the 2025 withdrawals of Justices Alok Verma and Ravindra Maithani from a contempt proceeding filed by Chaturvedi, and a 2024 recusal by Justice Manoj Tiwari over a document-seeking petition. Earlier Supreme Court recusal decisions were made by Justice Ranjan Gogoi in 2013 and Justice UU Lalit in 2016, each stepping aside from investigations or corruption allegations raised by Chaturvedi.
Why it matters
The repeated judicial recusals raise questions about potential conflicts of interest and the ability of courts to adjudicate high-profile administrative disputes.
In this story
