A professor from IIT-Guwahati who spoke against alleged corruption in the institution, was ordered to go on compulsory retirement.
According to Indian Express, the institute’s Board of Governors ordered Brijesh Rai, assistant professor in Electronics and Electrical Engineering (EEE) Department, to go on compulsory retirement on grounds of “misconduct”. Rai received the order on January 1, he was also asked to vacate residential quarters on the campus by January 31.
IIT-G director Prof T G Sitharam told the Indian Express, “The Board of Governors has imposed the penalty of compulsory retirement on Dr Rai. The investigation of charges…were proven to be true and the Board imposed the penalty of compulsory retirement…”
41-year-old Rai, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, joined IIT-Guwahati in 2011. Since 2017, Rai has received four showcause notices and has had three disciplinary proceedings against him at IIT-G.
Rai first got into tussle with IIT-G in 2015 when, through an RTI, he highlighted that a faculty member was allegedly aiding a student of EEE department in unscrupulously attaining his degree despite having left the institute after one academic year. Sitharam told the Indian Express, that “The charges against Dr Rai, including misconduct and serious disciplinary violations, have been proved…after investigating the matter in a transparent manner as per statutory processes."
