Dehradun: Two more judges of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Judges Havinder Kaur Oberoi and B Anand, have recused themselves from hearing cases involving IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi. This brings the total number of judicial recusals in his cases to 13, which legal observers said is a record of sorts.
So far, two Supreme Court judges, two Uttarakhand high court judges, the CAT chairman, a Shimla trial court judge, and seven CAT judges from Delhi and Allahabad benches have refrained from adjudicating Chaturvedi's matters. In its latest order on Feb 19, the CAT bench of Justices Oberoi and Anand directed the registry not to list his cases any further without providing any specific reasoning. Chaturvedi's counsel, Sudershan Goel, said that the case pertained to his appraisal report.
In Feb last year, an Uttarakhand HC judge had recused from hearing Chaturvedi's deputation case. According to his counsel, in 2018, the HC had directed that the officer's service matters be heard exclusively at the Nainital circuit bench. This decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
"In 2021, the HC reiterated its stance, but the Centre challenged it before the SC. Subsequently, in March 2023, a division bench of the apex court referred the matter to a larger bench," Goel added.
The pattern of repeated recusals goes back to Nov 2013, when then-Supreme Court judge, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, withdrew from hearing Chaturvedi's plea seeking a CBI probe into alleged corruption and...
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