Rajeev Kumar (academic)

Rajeev Kumar is a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University.^{[1][2][3][4] [5]} He fought with IITs to amend the eligibility criteria of admission through the JEE exams. In 2010, after a "protracted legal struggle"^[6] over the years with several tiers of the IIT administration, the Delhi High Court ordered the IITs to reveal such information.^[7][8] Since 2012, every candidate gets a carbon copy of their paper, and the various cutoffs are announced.^[9] Due to his activism he was suspended and forcefully retired by IIT Kharagpur in 2014 until he was reinstated in 2017 by former President Pranab Mukherjee.^[10]

Suspension for whistleblowing

In 2011, Kumar was suspended for damaging the reputation of IIT Kharagpur by reporting the extensive cheating going on in the institute and for exposing a scam in the purchase of laptops.^[11] The institute had also illegally accessed Kumar's phone records.^[12] This led to Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan requesting the MHRD Minister Kapil Sibal to ensure that whistleblowers like Rajeev are not harassed.^[13] Despite letters from the MHRD and the Central Vigilance Commission in 2013, IIT Kharagpur did not revoke his suspension.^{[6][14][15][16]} In July 2012, the registrar of IIT wrote to the ministry "saying the withdrawal of suspension of Prof. Kumar and resumption of duties would adversely affect the academic atmosphere of the institute." ^[17]

Finally, the suspension was lifted in May 2013,^[18]