Who is Sanjiv Chaturvedi IFS: The fearless anti-corruption crusader who challenged the Central Administrative Tribunal

Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi has filed a contempt petition against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). The move comes after 16 judges recused themselves from cases involving Chaturvedi. Apart from the eight CAT members, the list reportedly also includes two Supreme Court and four High Court justices, and two lower court judges. These include former Supreme Court judges Justices U U Lalit and Ranjan Gogoi.

 

Who is Sanjiv Chaturvedi IFS?

 

Fifty-year-old Sanjiv 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), and has faced repeated judicial rejections in his ongoing legal battles with government agencies. A firebrand speaker, he has been an anti-corruption crusader and whistleblower for many years. Chaturvedi joined the Uttarakhand cadre in 2015. Not many know the fact that he is the youngest civil servant in the country to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award.

 

Due to his uncompromising track record of exposing the wrongdoers, the 2002-batch bureaucrat has often been targeted by a section of powerful men. This, however, has never managed to slow down his relentless effort to clean up the system. The Allahabad native began his career in Haryana, and immediately ruffled the feathers of some powerful men. Over the years, he crossed swords with some of these men who were involved in unauthorised tree felling, poaching, and other illegal activities. He was wrongfully suspended, reports claimed, before the then President Pratibha Patil stepped in to revoke it. Patil and Pranab Mukherjee saved the crusader as many as six times from similar junctures, the Deccan Herald said in a report.

 

Later, after joining AIIMS, he found discrepancies with funds spent on construction projects and purchases of medical equipment. There were issues with contracts, tenders, drug orders, and even a pension fund, he found out, and the network behind it involved senior bureaucrats and doctors, amongst others.

 

What is the current case about?

 

The current contempt case stems from CAT's suo motu proceedings initiated against Chaturvedi on October 17, 2024.

 

According to news agency PTI, The Uttarakhand High Court had stayed the case until October 7, 2025, but the CAT proceeded on September 12, 2025, appointing a senior advocate as amicus curiae.

 

Chaturvedi has approached the High Court challenging this action. 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.

India