Nainital, Oct 11 (PTI) Justice Alok Verma of the Uttarakhand High Court has recused himself from hearing the contempt petition filed by senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and whistleblower Sanjiv Chaturvedi against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and members of its registry.
With this, the number of judges who have recused themselves from hearing Chaturvedi's cases has reached 16.
The IFS officer, who has exposed alleged corruption during his tenure as the Chief Vigilance Officer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, has faced repeated recusals in his ongoing legal battle with government agencies.
Earlier, three judges from the Uttarakhand High Court -- Justices Ravindra Maithani, Rakesh Thapliyal and Manoj Kumar Tiwari -- had also withdrawn from cases related to Chaturvedi.
In addition, 12 other judges recused themselves from cases where Chaturvedi was a party. These include former Supreme Court judges Justice UC Lalit and Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
Previously, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nainital had recused from hearing a criminal case.
A division bench of CAT comprising judges Harvinder Kaur Oberoi and B Anand recused itself from hearing the cases of IFS officer Chaturvedi. The chairman of CAT, a judge of a lower court in Shimla and eight CAT judges of Delhi and Allahabad bench also recused themselves from Chaturvedi's cases at various times.
According to Chaturvedi, this is a record in the country, where 16 judges recused themselves from hearing a person’s case. Earlier, ten judges had recused themselves from hearing the case of don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed.
The current contempt case stems from suo motu proceedings initiated by CAT against Chaturvedi on October 17, 2024. The Uttarakhand High Court had stayed the case until October 7, 2025, but CAT proceeded on September 12, appointing a senior advocate as amicus curiae. Chaturvedi has approached the high court challenging this action.
Justice Verma's brief order dated October 8, without giving any reasons, stated, "List it before another bench." PTI DPT SMV MNK SMV MNK