DEHRADUN: A judicial member of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has recused himself from hearing a petition filed by Uttarakhand-cadre Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, taking the reported number of judges who have stepped aside from his cases to 17.
The latest recusal relates to Chaturvedi's challenge to a November 2021 Uttarakhand government order on the appraisal-report channel for IFS officers. The petition also refers to a Supreme Court ruling delivered in May 2025.
An order issued by CAT Delhi Bench member Rajinder Kashyap on September 21 said: “After hearing the matter for some time, Hon’ble Mr. Rajveer Singh Verma, Member (J), recuses himself from hearing this matter.” The order did not mention any reason.
According to a tally of the proceedings, the recusals include two Supreme Court judges, four Uttarakhand High Court judges, nine CAT members, including a former chairman, and two district court judges. The tally could not be independently verified from the available information.
The latest order follows two recusals by the Uttarakhand High Court in September and October 2025, when Justices Alok Verma and Ravindra Maithani stepped aside from a contempt case filed by Chaturvedi against CAT members and its registry.
Earlier, Justice Manoj Tiwari recused himself in February 2024 from a case related to documents sought from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Chaturvedi's central deputation. Justice Rakesh Thapliyal withdrew in May 2023 from a case involving records of anti-corruption investigations conducted by Chaturvedi during his tenure as chief vigilance officer at AIIMS, New Delhi. None of the High Court orders cited reasons.
In April 2025, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Kushwaha recused herself from a defamation case filed by Chaturvedi against CAT member Manish Garg, citing “previous family relations” with another CAT member, D.S. Mahra.
Two CAT members, Harvinder Oberai and B. Anand, also recused themselves in February 2025 from a case related to the downgrading of Chaturvedi's appraisal report during his AIIMS tenure. Their order did not state a reason and directed the registry not to list his cases before them.
Earlier Supreme Court recusals came in 2013 and 2016, when Justices Ranjan Gogoi and U.U. Lalit stepped aside from a petition seeking a CBI investigation into corruption allegations involving Haryana officials and politicians.
A Shimla court judge also recused himself from a related defamation case in 2018. At the CAT, former chairman Justice L. Narasimha Reddy withdrew from transfer petitions in 2019, citing “unfortunate developments”, while member R.N. Singh recused himself from a central deputation matter in 2021.
