IIT whistleblower & JNU professor Rajeev Kumar writes to President Murmu; alleges harassment for 42 months [details]

If today over lakhs of IIT aspirants are able to access their response sheets, it is partly due to JNU professor Rajeev Kumar and his PIL seeking transparency in the JEE. In 2011, acting as a whistleblower, Professor Rajeev had filed a petition in the Supreme Court, following which IITs made several changes in the conduct of entrance examinations and brought more transparency into the process. In 2011, the Supreme Court called Kumar an "unsung hero."

The professor writes to President Murmu

For the act, where he played a whistleblower, Professor Rajeev Kumar, a faculty member in the School of Computer and Systems Sciences has alleged harassment by the institution for the past 42 months regarding a misbehavior complaint filed against him. In a letter written to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, he even says how he fears that the university (citing pending inquiry against him) may withhold his superannuation benefits after his retirement which is due in March 2024.

What does the letter say?

Presenting his case before the President, he writes, "The roots of this matter go back to 2006 when the JNU's former Vice Chancellor Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar (currently, Chairman UGC), was a member of IIT's Joint Admission Board from 2006 to 2008, and I, as a Professor of IIT Kharagpur, discovered wide-spread irregularities and inaccuracies in IIT-JEE admissions; the Hon'ble Supreme Court appreciated my efforts to reform the system, hailing me as an unsung hero. In retaliation, I have been persecuted by the JNU administration since joining of Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar (former faculty, IIT Kharagpur, Delhi) as the Vice-Chancellor," reports The Telegraph.

Rajeev Kumar alleges blatant violation of rules in his case. According to the rules of JNU, an inquiry related to varsity's schools and departments needs to be resolved in a month's time. However, he says in his case the inquiry has been pending for the past 42 months. Kumar also alleges that under the garb of an inquiry, JNU withheld vigilance clearance for him when he wanted to apply for higher academic positions. Apart from the President, Kumar has appealed to the Visitor to Central Universities to annul the inquiry.

The case of misbehaviour and the inquiry

Rajeev Kumar alleges that Jagadesh Kumar, who was the VC of JNU till January 2022, instituted the inquiry against him for misbehaviour and delaying the probe. He says this was done because he had earlier complained about the irregularities in IIT-JEE examination.

Rajeev Kumar had been accused of misbehaving with two external experts during a meeting in January 2020. The experts had alleged that Kumar raised his voice and passed personal comments. While one of them withdrew his complaint, JNU set up an inquiry in February 2020. In his letter, Kumar also says that the other complainant was not eligible to attend the meeting as he was a retired faculty member.

What happened in 2011?

In May 2011, IIT Kharagpur has suspended Kumar on charges of damaging its reputation by levelling allegations of irregularities in admissions, purchase of laptops and unchecked, widespread copying by students in exams. Kumar was hailed by the SC for his efforts to reform the entrance examination.

Red tapism, bureaucracy take over

This is not the first time that Rajeev Kumar has written to the President. Reportedly, President's secretariat has forwarded the petition to ministry of education, which has further forwarded it back to JNU. The Telegraph, reportedly, tried reaching out to both Rajeev Kumar and Jagadesh Kumar for their comments on the issue but did not get a response. As for the matter, it is still pending before the university as it has not submitted its response.

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