IIT Guwahati PhD scholar suspended for 'defaming' institute on Facebook

 

GUWAHATI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has suspended a research scholar for a semester for a Facebook post he wrote in October 2020. The institute's students’ disciplinary committee (SDC) had recommended “suspended academic expulsion” for him in March 2020.

 

 

According to reports, Vikrant Singh, from the department of electronics and electrical engineering (EEE), will remain under suspension from March 10 to July 27, 2021.

 

In October, Singh had posted a link to a story on the arrest of the Assam JEE Main 2020 topper for cheating.

 

In his accompanying post, Singh wrote that the "problem of proxy isn't a new thing" and that there has been "a number of issues about the conduct of JEE."

 

"We students spent our wellbeing, and whatnot to secure a rank. It is the lives and dreams of Young Students that are at stake. It’s good that these culprits were nabbed, but we need more strict rules to crack into this Unfair Businesses," he wrote.

 

Singh in his post further alleged that the IITs have "acted in vague and sad manner" against teachers who have made allegations of corruption.

 

Singh mentioned former IIT Kharagpur teacher Rajeev Kumar who now teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Brijesh Rai, who were dismissed from IIT Guwahati on the charge of attempting to “defame the authorities of the Institute”, among others, in January 2020.

 

The letter to Singh from the joint registrar and head of section, students' affairs, Dilip Boro said, "Your indulgence in misinterpretation of facts related to the institute without proper verification and resulting in defamation of the institute"

 

According to reports, Singh has a “disciplinary case diary” dating back to 2017 and had a “suspended academic expulsion” hanging over his head since early 2020.