U'khand chief justice to hear whistleblower Sanjiv Chaturvedi's contempt case

Nainital, Oct 14 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Justice G Narendra has constituted a new bench headed by him to hear senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi's contempt petition against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). The move comes after 16 judges recused themselves from cases involving Chaturvedi.

A division bench comprising the chief justice and Justice Subhash Upadhyay will hear the contempt petition against CAT and members of its registry on October 30.

On October 8, Justice Alok Verma recused himself from the case hearing. Before him, 15 other judges withdrew from hearing various cases involving Chaturvedi.

Chaturvedi, who gained recognition as a whistleblower by exposing alleged corruption during his tenure as chief vigilance officer (CVO) at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), has faced repeated judicial rejections in his ongoing legal battles with government agencies.

Before Justice Verma, Justice Ravindra Maithani, Justice Rakesh Thapliyal and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari also withdrew from cases involving Chaturvedi, taking the total number of Uttarakhand High Court judges to four.

In addition, 12 other judges recused themselves from cases where Chaturvedi was a party, a record in itself. These include former Supreme Court judges Justices U U Lalit and Ranjan Gogoi.

The chief judicial magistrate's court in Nainital also backed off from hearing a criminal case.

The list includes a division bench of CAT judges, Harvinder Kaur Oberoi and B. Anand.

According to Chaturvedi, this is a "unique record" in the country where 16 judges recused themselves from hearing a single individual's cases. Previously, 10 judges had recused themselves from hearing the case of mafia leader Atiq Ahmed.

The current contempt case stems from CAT's suo motu proceedings initiated against Chaturvedi on October 17, 2024.

The Uttarakhand High Court had stayed the case until October 7, 2025, but the CAT proceeded on September 12, 2025, appointing a senior advocate as amicus curiae.

Chaturvedi has approached the high court challenging this action. PTI DPT APL APL MIN MIN