Uttarakhand High Court Notifies Procedure For Listing Of Cases Recused By Judges

An office memorandum issued on the orders of the Chief Justice of the High Court on March 12 states that where a Bench passes an order or requests to list a case or class of cases before another Bench, such case/cases will be listed before the Bench next in the order of seniority.

It further adds that if the Bench next in the order of seniority had already recused the case/cases or it recuses the same on being listed, such case/cases will be listed before the Bench next in the order of seniority, and so on.

Furthermore, it also clarifies that this order for listing the case/cases, after the Bench, at last in the order of seniority, will continue from the Bench, first in the order of seniority.

The entire text of the office memorandum, which would be effective from March 8, reads thus:

“On the subject above, I am directed to say that when a Hon'ble Bench passes an order or makes the request on the administrative side that a case or class of cases pertaining to its roster or listed before it, be listed before another Bench, in the interest of the litigants, and for convenient transaction of judicial business of the Hon'ble Court, such case or class of cases be listed in following manner:-

(A) Where a Bench passes an order, or it requests to list a case or class of cases before another Bench, such case/cases will be listed before the Bench next in the order of seniority, and if the Bench next in the order of seniority had already recused the case/cases or it recuses the same on being listed, such case/cases will be listed before the Bench next in the order of seniority, and so on.

(B) The aforesaid order for listing the case/cases, after the Bench at last in the order of seniority will continue from the Bench, first in the order of seniority.”

Interestingly, these orders could be seen in light of the controversy surrounding the recusal of two High Court judges in multiple cases of IFS Officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi.

In February 2024, in an unusual turn of events, Justice Manoj Tiwari of the High Court recused himself from hearing the cases of Chaturvedi. What made this particularly unusual was that he directed the Registry not to list Chaturvedi's cases before him in the future.

Justice Rakesh Thapliyal of the HC has also recused himself five times from hearing Chaturvedi's cases, with the first recusal in May 2023 and the most recent in December 2024.