Now, 16th judge recuses from hearing case of IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi

New Delhi: In an unending spate of recusal of judges from hearing case of Uttarakhand cadre Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, now 16th judge has opted out from hearing his case.

A senior judge of Uttarakhand High Court, Justice Alok Verma has also recused from hearing of a contempt case filed by Chaturvedi against CAT members and registry for "willful disobedience" of its stay order.

This is seen as a record in judicial history of the country as never have so many judges recused from hearing of cases of a particular person.

Just 12 days ago, Justice Ravindra Maithani had also recused from hearing the case of Chaturvedi, ordering that, "List before another bench of which I (Ravindra Maithani, J.) am is not the member."

The order passed by Justice Alok Verma on October 8 read as, "List before another Bench."

This order, like previous other orders, does not mention any specific reason for recusal, making it all the more unusual.

He is the fourth judge of Uttarakhand High Court to recuse from hearing Chaturvedi's case.

Before him, Justice Rakesh Thapliyal had recused in May 2023 from hearing Chaturvedi's case related to summoning of documents of his anti-corruption investigation as CVO, AIIMS, in his appraisal report case, and Justice Manoj Tiwari, in February 2024, in his case related to summoning of documents from Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) regarding his central deputation case. None of the four judges mentioned any reasons in recusal order.

Recusal of Justice Alok Verma was found "very intriguing" as he was hearing cases of Chaturvedi up to August, 29 in a division bench headed by Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court.

This is sixth judicial recusal this year in Chaturvedi's case, with two CAT judges -- Harvinder Oberai and B Anand recusing in February 2025, and ACJM Neha Kushwaha recusing in April 2025, apart from two high court judges.

So far, two Supreme Court judges -- Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice UU Lalit (since both retired), four high court judges, two lower court judges and eight CAT (Central Administrative Tribunal) judges, including a Chairman, CAT, have recused from hearing cases of Sanjiv Chaturvedi.

This year, in April 2025, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neha Kushwaha had recused from hearing a defamation case filed by Chaturvedi against CAT judge Manish Garg, citing her "previous family relations" with another CAT judge DS Mahra.

In February 2025, a division bench of CAT consisting of Harvinder Oberai and B Anand had recused themselves, without citing any reason, by simply directing Registry not to list cases of Chaturvedi before them in future. The bench was hearing a case related to downgrading of appraisal report of Chaturvedi by then Union Health Minister J P Nadda, when he was Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), AIIMS, Delhi.