Justice Alok Verma of the Uttarakhand High Court has stepped away from hearing a contempt case filed by IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi against members of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and its registry.
This is now the 16th instance of a judge stepping aside from Chaturvedi’s cases, raising serious questions about judicial impartiality and access to justice for whistleblowers. The repeated recusals have made Chaturvedi’s case one of its kind in Indian judicial history.
So far, two Supreme Court judges, four High Court judges, two lower court judges, and eight CAT judges, including a former chairman, have recused themselves from hearing his matters. Most of these orders do not give any reason for the recusal, which has led to speculation about possible pressures or conflicts of interest.
Chaturvedi’s case underscores the difficulties whistleblowers face in seeking justice, with many judges reluctant to take up their cases.
Justice Verma’s order dated October 8 simply stated, “List before another Bench.” Like previous orders, it gave no reason for recusal.
Just two weeks earlier, on September 26, senior Uttarakhand High Court judge Justice Ravindra Maithani also recused from hearing a contempt case linked to Chaturvedi. His order read, “List before another Bench of which I (Ravindra Maithani, J.) am not a member,” again without giving any reason.
Before this, in May 2020, Justice Rakesh Thapliyal had withdrawn from hearing a case related to Chaturvedi’s appraisal report as Chief Vigilance Officer at AIIMS, in which he had sought official documents for his anti-corruption probe.
Justice Manoj Tiwari documents from the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) regarding his central deputation case in February 2024.
Justice Verma had been part of a Division Bench led by the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court and continued hearing Chaturvedi’s cases until August 29. His withdrawal now marks the sixth judicial recusal in Chaturvedi’s case this year alone.
This year, two CAT judges—Harvinder Oberai and B. Anand—recused in February 2025, while Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neha Kushwaha recused in April 2025. Apart from them, two High Court judges have also stepped aside.
ACJM Neha Kushwaha had withdrawn from hearing a defamation case filed by Chaturvedi against CAT judge Manish Garg, citing “previous family relations” with another CAT judge, DS Mahra, as her reason.
Earlier, in 2018, the Uttarakhand High Court had ruled that Chaturvedi’s case related to the downgrading of his appraisal report by then Union Health Minister JP Nadda be heard only at the Nainital Circuit Bench. The court had imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the Central government for insisting that the matter be transferred to the Delhi Bench of CAT. The Supreme Court later upheld this order.
In November 2013, the then Supreme Court judge, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, had also recused from a petition filed by Chaturvedi seeking a CBI probe against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and several senior politicians and officials of the state in corruption cases allegedly exposed by him and his harassment.
In April 2018, a Shimla court judge stepped aside from hearing a defamation case filed by Vineet Chowdhary, the then Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh, against Chaturvedi. The case related to a report Chaturvedi had sent to the Himachal government detailing alleged financial irregularities investigated by him as CVO, AIIMS.
In March 2019, Justice L. Narasimhan Reddy, then Chairman of the CAT, Delhi, recused himself from hearing Chaturvedi’s transfer petitions, citing “certain unfortunate developments.”
In November 2023, a CAT Bench comprising Judges Manish Garg and Chhabilendra Roul also recused from hearing Chaturvedi’s case seeking documents from the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) regarding his empanelment at the Joint Secretary level. Then in January 2025, another CAT judge, Justice Rajeev Joshi, withdrew from hearing his Central deputation case before the Lokpal.
Also read: HC asks Centre for empanelment details of Sanjiv Chaturvedi
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