‘Justice took 4 years’: How Vikrant Singh fought against IIT Guwahati and won

NEW DELHI: Vikrant Singh won. On March 6, the Gauhati High Court ruled that his expulsion from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati was “arbitrary” and reinstated Singh, now 34, in his research programme. It marked an end to years of struggle that saw him working at low-paying jobs, often for a few months at each, as his court battle crawled on.

The last four years have been punishing. When Singh was first suspended and then expelled in 2021, he was a PhD scholar in information theory in IIT Guwahati’s electronics and electrical engineering department. Among the key charges that led to his suspension and expulsion was a social media post on cheating in that year’s JEE Main exam – the first of the two levels of exams for admission in the IITs. IIT Guwahati argued this was “defamation”.

Singh spent years without stable employment as IIT Guwahati’s actions and allegations, which the Gauhati HC has described as being “in violation of the principles of natural justice”, followed him wherever he went, destroying his reputation and punishing him even as he battled them in court.

“Whichever organisation or institute I joined, either I was asked to leave within a few days or couldn’t work due to the termination which they eventually got to know later through news,” he told Careers360 from Lucknow where he’s employed at a software company.

He is awaiting the certified copy of the judgment with which he will write to IIT Guwahati to resume his PhD.

He was finally assisted by two former IIT professors, his former research guide Brijesh Rai and Ramon Magasasay Award-winning social activist Sandeep Pandey, expelled from IIT Guwahati and IIT BHU, respectively.

‘Defaming’ IIT Guwahati

Before Singh, it was his PhD supervisor in IIT Guwahati’s crosshairs.

In 2019, Brijesh Rai was issued a memo for “compulsory retirement” after he made allegations of corruption against the administration and broadcast them by writing to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), among other authorities. Rai had alleged “misconduct” in the appointment of researchers and other staff. This, like Singh’s post, was seen as defamatory.

Students held a candlelight march in protest and a few – including Singh – launched a hunger strike that November. A disciplinary committee summoned nine students, including Singh who was ultimately suspended for a semester in 2020. But Singh made the fateful Facebook post in October 2020, sharing Careers360’s story on the arrest of the Assam JEE Main 2020 topper for cheating.

In April, 2021, the joint registrar informed him of his expulsion, citing multiple complaints. Singh was asked to present his case before the disciplinary committee on April 12 or 13. However, as the judgment points out, Singh petitioned the court the same year saying “he had not been made aware of the specific allegation for the proposed hearing to be held and what was to be defended/explained”. Singh was given a final termination in June, 2021, after a resolution was passed at IIT Guwahati Senate and the Board of Governors.

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Singh has maintained that the complaints cited were “false” and that he wasn’t given any opportunity to defend himself. IIT Guwahati told the HC: “His actions were highly disruptive to the academic environment and the petitioner has not made any attempt to comply with the rules and regulations of the IIT, Guwahati.” Singh repeatedly asked for a copy of the Senate resolution which was not provided.

The Gauhati HC has set aside the decision to expel but has said IIT Guwahati can initiate a fresh inquiry. Singh, on his part, has been asked to submit an undertaking saying he will “not cause any disturbance to the academic atmosphere of the IIT Guwahati”, the judgment stated.

4 years of hardship

Rai feels vindicated by the judgment but wants to know who’ll compensate Singh for the years he’s lost. “While the court has given the judgement, who will be accountable for the time Vikrant lost?” he asked.

Singh hails from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, where his father farms and his mother was an anganwadi – early childhood care centre – worker. Following the termination of his place in IIT G, that too during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Singh spent nearly two years without stable employment.

Even then, he does not regret the decision to sue.

“We were determined that we will go to court,” he said. “But justice took four years and it was very difficult for me because I am in my 30s and have to support my family which is dependent on me.” He often felt helpless and directionless. Singh borrowed from friends but struggled to repay for months and was eventually cut off from those circles because of the lack of an income.

“It was a weird situation,” said Singh. “Just after the termination, there was the pandemic. I first tried teaching in some engineering colleges. Though I got a job in a nearby city, eventually people got to know about my termination through the news. Everyone in the college felt that I would create problems in their institute.” The reputational damage – defamation? – pursued him everywhere. He was asked to leave in less than a month of working.

Later, a friend from IIT Guwahati recommended him to a media house in Lucknow, for a copywriter job. It paid just Rs 15,000 a month and Singh struggled to fit into a journalism role. He left within a few months.

Ultimately, with Pandey’s help, an IIT Kanpur alumnus helped him land a job in a software company in Lucknow. Singh wasn’t the only one. Pandey helped a number of PhD candidates who had their positions terminated.

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“Initially, we were given as much as our PhD stipend– Rs 35,000 monthly –for the first six months until we learned the work in late 2022,” he said. “Not being from a computer science background and still learning all the concepts within a year or two was quite challenging. It was transitioning from electrical engineering to computer science. But I worked hard day and night to retain the job,” he said. Singh is still working at the same firm.

“My only motivation over all these years was that I wanted to study and I hadn’t done anything wrong that led to my expulsion,” he added. Plus, Rai stood by him.

‘Fake tweets and letters’

Singh’s legal battle was especially protracted because “a fake tweet and several fake letters” were produced. “Something or the other was often brought up, and it took time to trace it and prove its relevance,” he said. These eventually set up a separate round of litigation.

“A fake tweet [a post on the social media platform now called X] was submitted in court in the name of Brijesh sir that mentioned in 2020 a massive protest will be organised at IIT Guwahati against Narendra Modi, BJP and others with the prime minister’s and other accounts being tagged. The tweet mentioned that Vikrant and Himanchal will lead the protest,” said Singh, “however, after taking the help of a fact-checking media organisation, Alt News, the post was found to be fake. In June 2022, Alt News reported, “A screenshot of an alleged tweet by Dr Rai was attached to a document of the 106th Board of Governors (BOG) meeting held on April 22, 2021.” This tweet was filed in Rai’s case as well.

Singh stated that it took them more than a year to trace the origin of the post and establish that it was fake. Further, one letter, purportedly from Rai, was sent to the advocate RP Kakoti, senior advocate of Gauhati High Court accusing him of “criminal conspiracy to victimise student [Vikrant] in the case” in 2021, which was found to be fake. Careers360 has the copy of the letter.

“It took time to trace from where the fake letters were posted to different professors and administrative officials at IIT Guwahati and the high court advocate of Guwahati,” said Singh.

While Rai confirmed that the letter was fake, court ordered a CID enquiry which found a research scholar at IIT G who had posted the letter. An FIR was filed against the scholar in 2021 – Careers360 has a copy. In 2023, the scholar filed a quashing petition in the Gauhati HC. His main argument was that he’d been asked by his research guide, then IIT Guwahati director, TG Sitharam, to post the four letters and did so without knowing their contents. The petition read: “The petitioner abiding by the dictum of the office guide and Director T G Sitharam posted the letter.”

But the court didn’t take cognizance of these findings, said Singh.

Sitharam is now chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), India’s top technical education regulator.

Sitharam did not respond to an email about the claims made in the petition. If and when he does, this story will be updated with his comments.