New Delhi: Seventeen judges have recused themselves since 2013 in matters related to Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and Magasaysay awardee Sanjiv Chaturvedi’s plea for an anti-corruption probe in Haryana and other cases. The latest recusal was on September 21 by Rajveer Singh Verma, a judicial member of the Delhi bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).The CAT order did not specify a reason for the recusal, as has happened in previous cases related to Chaturvedi’s pleas, which largely stem from when he was posted in the Haryana Forest DepartmentChaturvedi says he uncovered corruption and irregularities in Haryana’s forest administration and that he was harassed and faced adverse official action for doing so. He sought an independent CBI investigation. A two-member inquiry committee was constituted by the Union government to investigate his claims, which found that he was being harassed.Senior Haryana government functionaries were implicated in the case. The matter was referred to the Central Vigilance Commission, which referred it to the CBI. The central agency said in a November 2011 report that the issues raised by Chaturvedi were “worthy of an independent probe”.Also read: RTI Reveals Modi Called Health Minister to Discuss Removal of AIIMS Whistleblower Sanjiv ChaturvediWhile the CBI indicated that it was willing to take up the investigation, subject to the necessary formalities, the Haryana government did not agree to a CBI probe in the matter, leading to the long chain of litigation in which the 17 recusals have occurred so far.The litigation that grew out of the original conflict in Haryana include disputes over his service record, deputation, appraisal reports, alleged retaliation, contempt proceedings and demand for documents relating to the earlier investigations.Chaturvedi, a whistleblower officer, won the Magasaysay award in 2015 for exposing corruption by government functionaries. He was posted as director vigilance at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, from 2012 to 2016, when he investigated around 200 corruption cases.In 2016, after the Central Information Commission Sridhar Acharyulu had questioned the Intelligence Bureau for refusing to disclose to Chaturvedi its report clearing his name in a number of cases. The bureau had objected to the environment ministry sharing the report with Chaturvedi.Chaturvedi had in 2018 sought details through RTI of corruption complaints against Union ministers, inquiries conducted into these complaints and the final action taken by the Prime Minister’s Office. His query pertained to cases from the first three years of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s first term – from June 1, 2014, to August 5, 2017.Citing an August 2017 parliamentary committee report which found the 360-degree appraisal system flawed, Chaturvedi had also challenged the lateral entry system (also known as the multi-source feedback system) for civil servants. The trigger was the appointment of nine private sector specialists as joint secretaries.Also read: Setback for Whistleblower Officer as Uttarakhand HC Refuses His Plea Against Health MinisterThe 17 judges who have recused themselves over the years include two Supreme Court judges, four Uttarakhand HC judges, nine CAT judges, including a former CAT chairperson, and two district judges, the Times of India reports.Justices Alok Verma and Ravindra Maithani of the UttarakhandHigh Court recused themselves from a contempt plea filed by Chaturvedi in October and November 2025. Prior to that, Justice Manoj Tiwari withdrew from hearing one of his petitions.In January 2021, CAT chairman L. Narasimha Reddy recused himself from hearing a plea by Chaturvedi which challenged the civil servants’ empanelment process.The first judge to withdraw from a matter pertaining to Chaturvedi was the Supreme Court’s Justice Ranjan Gogoi in 2013, followed by Justice U.U. Lalit in 2016.