Whistleblower prof forced to retire from IIT Kharagpur gets post in JNU

NEW DELHI: After six years of legal battle since he was given compulsory retirement by IIT Kharagpur on charges of misconduct, whistle-blower Professor Rajeev Kumar has finally got a posting at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The university “requested” Kumar to “immediately” resume his duties at the School of Computer and Systems Sciences.

IIT Kharagpur had in May 2011 suspended Kumar on charges of misconduct and “damaging (the institute’s) reputation” by making public “irregularities in admissions/purchase of laptops and rampant cheating by students during examinations”.

The Supreme Court hailed Kumar as an “unsung hero” that same year for his efforts to reform IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), which has since been rechristened as JEE Advanced.

The penalty of compulsory retirement, imposed on Kumar by IIT Kharagpur, was set aside by President Pranab Mukherjee days before he demitted office.

After IIT Kharagpur relieved him of his duties, Kumar joined JNU in June 2015 through an order which granted him a lien for two years, until June 11, 2017.

The order had said he would be deemed to have resigned from IIT Kharagpur if he did not join it back at the expiry of the lien.

Lien represents the right of a government employee to hold a regular post, whether permanent or temporary, either immediately or on the termination of the period of absence.

When the JNU decided to confirm Kumar as professor in May 2016, it asked him to submit a copy of termination lien or resignation from IIT Kharagpur, but the IIT refused, saying Kumar’s petition at the Delhi high court “has not yet reached its logical conclusion”. It accepted his resignation on August 14, 2017, after the court issued an order.

“I wish to express my gratitude to uncountable individuals and groups worldwide who stood with me in this movement, which started in 2006,” he said.