4 years later, court calls IIT Guwahati scholar’s expulsion ‘arbitrary’; allows Vikrant Singh to complete PhD

NEW DELHI: Nearly 4 years later, the expulsion of Vikrant Singh, a PhD scholar at IIT Guwahati, has been quashed by the Gauhati High Court today. His studentship was terminated for his social media posts on the conduct of JEE Main, which the institute saw as “defamatory”.

The high court disposed of the case and termed the letter dated June 25, 2021, expelling the petitioner from the IIT Guwahati as “arbitrary and in violation of the principles of natural justice”. It directed the institute to issue necessary orders to help Vikrant Singh complete his PhD. It also cautioned the petitioner to “behave and act within the Rules, Regulations of the IIT and the Ordinance on Code and Conduct of students”.

It also informed that IIT Guwahati may restart the inquiry afresh, “provided that principles of natural justice are followed and as per due process of law”. Singh has been instructed to submit an undertaking to the registrar of the institute stating that “he will not cause any disturbance to the academic atmosphere of the IIT, Guwahati”.

Why was Vikrant Singh expelled?

It all started after the JEE Main topper 2020, Neel Nakshatra Das, was arrested for using a proxy candidate to get admission in top engineering college. Sharing a link to a Careers360 news story, Vikrant Singh wrote on Facebook in October 2020 that “problem of proxy isn't a new thing” and went on to talk about the conduct of Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), held for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

Following this, the joint registrar, students’ affairs, IIT Guwahati, had sent a letter on April 8, 2021, to Singh informing about several complaints received against him and that it has been deliberated upon by the Students’ Disciplinary Committee (SDC) in several meetings. He had levelled corruption allegation against the institute and its functionaries, “which was in violation of Clause 3.1.10(c) of the Ordinance on Code and Conduct of the Students of the IIT, Guwahati,” the letter read.

Vikrant Singh was asked to present his case to the Students’ Disciplinary Committee (SDC) on April 12 or 13. However, replying to the April 8 letter, Singh that “he had not been made aware of the specific allegation for the proposed hearing to be held and what was to be defended/explained”.

The IIT Guwahati administration had also alleged that the tone and language used by Singh was highly objectionable and inappropriate. Rubbishing the claims, Singh had raised issues regarding several false complaints. Notably, the director of IIT Guwahati at the time was TG Sitharam, the current AICET chairman.

Without giving an explanation or reply to his letter, the institute issued the studentship termination letter on June 25, a month before his suspension was to be lifted. He was suspended before in March for launching hunger strike after Brijesh Rai, his supervisor, was dismissed from service for similar charges.