Two judges of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Harvinder Kaur Oberoi and B. Anand, have recently recused themselves from hearing cases involving Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi. This decision marks the 13th judicial recusals related to Chaturvedi’s cases, which legal experts suggest may set a record in India. Increasingly, Supreme Court Justices, as well as two judges from the Uttarakhand High Court, the chairman of the CAT, a trial court judge from Shimla, and a total of seven judges from the CAT benches at Delhi and Allahabad, have been disqualified.
On February 19, the CAT bench directs through a recent order that cases of Chaturvedi not be listed for hearing by the Registry without assigning appropriate reasons for such listings being stopped.” Chaturvedi’s counsel, Sudershan Goel, noted that the current matter involves the officer’s appraisal report. The pattern of recusals has been ongoing, with a notable instance in February 2024 when a judge from the Uttarakhand High Court withdrew from hearing Chaturvedi’s deputation case.
Chaturvedi’s legal troubles began in 2018 when the Uttarakhand High Court directed that his service matters be exclusively heard at the Nainital circuit bench. This ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court, which reiterated the decision in 2021. However, the Center challenged this stance, leading to a division bench of the Supreme Court referring the matter to a larger bench in March 2023.
The history of recusals in Chaturvedi’s cases traces back to November 2013, when then Supreme Court judge Ranjan Gogoi withdrew from hearing Chaturvedi’s plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged corruption and harassment involving former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other political figures. In August 2016, another Supreme Court judge, U.U. Lalit, also recused himself from the case.
Sanjiv Chaturvedi rose to prominence in 2007 after exposing corruption within the Haryana forest department. Over the years, he faced 12 transfers within five years, and following a suspension, he filed a complaint with the President, which led to the revocation of the suspension by the Haryana government. Recognized as a whistleblower in 2012, Chaturvedi has also been honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his courageous efforts in fighting corruption.
