CAT member withdraws from Sanjiv Chaturvedi’s appraisal petition, marking 17th recusal in 13 years

A Delhi bench member of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Rajveer Singh Verma, recused himself on September 21 from hearing IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi’s petition on his Annual Performance Appraisal Report. Chaturvedi appeared in person and cited the All India Services (Performance Appraisal Report) Rules, 2007, as well as a November 29, 2021 communication from Uttarakhand’s Additional Chief Secretary that names the authorities for disposing APARs of IFS officers. The Registry raised an objection that Chaturvedi’s representation was premature and noted that his later submissions were not linked to the core issue despite repeated directions to stay on point. The order instructed the Registry to list the case before an appropriate CAT bench. This is not Verma’s first withdrawal; over the past 13 years, 17 judges and judicial officers have stepped aside from matters involving Chaturvedi. The tally includes two Supreme Court judges, four Uttarakhand High Court judges, nine CAT members and two district judges. Earlier examples are Justice Alok Verma and Justice Ravindra Maithani recusing themselves in September‑October 2025 from a contempt petition, Justice Manoj Tiwari in February 2024 from a document‑seeking case, and Supreme Court judges Justice Ranjan Gogoi in November 2013 and Justice U.U. Lalit in August 2016 from separate petitions. No single reason is given for these recusals, and the latest order does not explain Verma’s decision. The matter will now be assigned to another CAT bench for further hearing.