Who is Sanjiv Chaturvedi, the whistleblower IFS officer behind 16 judge recusals?
Sanjiv Chaturvedi is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer who has spent more than two decades in the civil service.
Uttarakhand Chief Justice G Narendra has constituted a new bench headed by him to hear senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi's contempt petition against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
This marks a significant development as the move comes after 16 judges recused themselves from cases involving Chaturvedi.
A division bench comprising the chief justice and Justice Subhash Upadhyay will hear the contempt petition against CAT and members of its registry on October 30.
Who is Sanjiv Chaturvedi?
Sanjiv Chaturvedi is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer who has spent more than two decades in the civil service. A known crusader against corruption, Chaturvedi has consistently taken on powerful political and bureaucratic forces.
A 2002 batch officer and initially posted in Haryana, Chaturvedi gained prominence for exposing illegal tree-felling, poaching, and financial irregularities in plantation schemes. Despite the tremendous political pressure, he received support from high places – including six interventions by Presidents Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee that protected his service.
Chaturvedi gained recognition as a whistleblower by exposing alleged corruption during his tenure as chief vigilance officer (CVO) at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He has faced repeated judicial rejections in his ongoing legal battles with government agencies.
Chaturvedi later moved to the Uttarakhand cadre, where he continued to focus on conservation and transparency.
He also made efforts in protecting rare Himalayan biodiversity and using AI to study climate change impacts gained international recognition. At the same time, he exposed fresh irregularities, including a major encroachment-related scam in the Mussoorie Forest Division.
His legal battles have become nearly as legendary as his field work. In total, 16 judges recused themselves from cases involving Chaturvedi.
Before Justice Verma, Justice Ravindra Maithani, Justice Rakesh Thapliyal, and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari also withdrew from cases involving Chaturvedi, taking the total number of Uttarakhand High Court judges to four.
In addition, 12 other judges recused themselves from cases where Chaturvedi was a party, a record in itself. These include former Supreme Court judges Justices U U Lalit and Ranjan Gogoi.
The chief judicial magistrate's court in Nainital also backed off from hearing a criminal case.
The list includes a division bench of CAT judges, Harvinder Kaur Oberoi and B Anand.
According to Chaturvedi, this is a "unique record" in the country where 16 judges recused themselves from hearing a single individual's cases. Previously, 10 judges had recused themselves from hearing the case of mafia leader Atiq Ahmed.
