Social media is rife with claims suggesting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not clear the competitive Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for his admission into the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and was admitted through corporate quota.
Many of the posts made the claim based on a response by IIT Kharagpur to an RTI enquiry dated April 18, 2016, which stated that Kejriwal's all India rank (AIR) was not available.
BOOM found this claim to be false; Rajender Singh, former dean of undergraduate studies and admissions at the institute, had told Times of India that IITJEE data is destroyed after three years, leading to the institute's inability to provide the ranking at first. He also mentioned that corporate quota reservation for admission did not exit.
Following the controversy after the initial RTI enquiry, IIT Kharagpur responded to yet another RTI enquiry, as reported by Deccan Herald, where they clarified that Kejriwal's JEE ranking - which was earlier untraceable - was found to be 563 "after in-depth search from admission register".
These posts were shared on social media in the backdrop of Gujarat High Court quashing a seven-year-old order of the Central Information Commission (CIC), which had asked the university to provide information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree to Kejriwal, and imposing a fine of Rs. 25,000 on the Delhi CM. Despite the fine, Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party continued its attack on Modi, and questioned the prime minister's Lok Sabha membership based on a degree they alleged to be false.
An image purportedly showing a young Kejriwal from his IIT days, was shared on social media along with a screenshot of an RTI response from IIT Kharagpur, where Kejriwal's IITJEE AIR was labeled as "Not available". The image contained the following hardcoded text:
"In response to RTI, IIT Kharagpur has declared that Arvind Kejriwal did not get admission in IIT based on JEE examination but through a corporate quota. Jindal group has donated a lot of money to IIT and in return they nominate 2 of their own people for admission under this quota. So Kejriwal did not take admission in IIT based on merit but under quota system. He practically jumped the line and deprived an opportunity to the students who actually deserved it. Now, if Kejriwal has guts or is honest then either he should accept this fact publicly or show JEE marksheet and prove this allegation wrong."
A large number of Facebook and Twitter users were found sharing this image with a Hindi caption (as seen above), which translated to English as, "RTI information on Lavanasura's IIT studies shows that he had taken admission in IIT through quota without giving JEE exam. It is said that Lavanasur was one of the two boys who were given admission in IIT by Jindal Group in lieu of donation. Lavanasur has not made his JEE exam result and ranking public till date."
Click here, here, here, here, here and here to view such posts.
Fact Check
BOOM did a keyword search to look for past reports on Kejriwal's IITJEE rankings, and found that similar claims were raised back in 2016, following the RTI response seen in the viral posts, which could not provide his rankings.
Subramanian Swamy had then reportedly used the same RTI response as a reference to accuse the Delhi CM of skipping the entrance exam, and getting admitted "through some other method". According a report by the Indian Express, the allegations against Kejriwal originated from a website - 'thelotpot.com' - which no longer exists.
After the RTI response went viral in May 2016, social media saw the exact same claim which is currently going viral - that Kejriwal had gotten his admission through a corporate quota in return for some alleged donation by the Jindal Group.
Following these rumours, Rajender Singh, former dean of undergraduate studies and admissions at IIT Kharagpur, rubbished the accusations of the Delhi CM getting in through a corporate quota, and told the Times of India that such a quota reservation does not exist.
Referring to the viral RTI response, he also highlighted that IITJEE data is destroyed after a period of three years, which led to the institutes inability to provide Kejriwal's ranking.
In July 10, 2016, a Deccan Herald report highlighted that the institute had responded to yet another RTI enquiry on Kejriwal's JEE ranking, where his AIR was stated to be 563.
The reported quoted then-deputy registrar and Public Information Officer of IIT Kharagpur, Dr. Anathbandhu Patra, from the RTI response, to state that AIR cards for older sessions, as in the case of Kejriwal, were earlier untraceable, but was ascertained after "in-depth search from admission register".
Former IIT Kharagpur Registrar Pradeep Payne, while speaking to ABP News, had also mentioned that Kejriwal's AIR was 563, and that there was no quota provided for the Jindal Group.
BOOM also found a copy of an RTI response by IIT Kharagpur's Deputy Registrar and Public Information Officer Anathbandhu Patra, to an individual named Abhishek Modak, where it is mentioned that Kejriwal's IITJEE ranking was 563.
We reached out to Modak through Twitter, who confirmed to us that the RTI response was authentic.
BOOM has reached out to IIT Kharagpur's registrar's office, and the story will be updated if and when we receive a response.
