New Delhi, April 30: A professor of IIT Kharagpur who had exposed flaws in the IIT entrance exam and alleged financial irregularities was reinstated today after two years of suspension.

The IIT administration had suspended Rajeev Kumar in May 2011 after accusing him of “damaging the reputation of the institute” by levelling allegations on issues ranging from irregularities in the purchase of laptops to rampant copying by students during examinations.

But IIT Kharagpur, under orders from the HRD ministry and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), today wrote to Kumar that he is allowed to resume his duty with “immediate effect”.

On the advice of the CVC, the ministry had earlier asked IIT Kharagpur to immediately reinstate the whistleblower. Kumar, who had been hailed by the Supreme Court as an “unsung hero” for his fight for reforms in the IIT entrance exam, had moved Delhi High Court on the suspension.

The institute had to scrap its plan to purchase laptops after Kumar alleged that it was shelling out Rs 28,000 more for each machine.

Kumar had also alleged the institute paid an inquiry officer six times the Centre-prescribed rate for probing charges of misconduct against him. He claimed, on the basis of papers obtained through RTI, that retired judge Ronojit Mitra was paid Rs 5 lakh as “honorarium” to probe allegations of “misconduct” against him. Under government norms, such an inquiry officer can be given a maximum of Rs 75,000.