Two Indian PhD students at the University of Colorado Boulder reportedly won $200,000 (approx ₹1.8 million) in a civil rights settlement after they claimed they were discriminated against for eating Indian food on campus — a case they said was as much about dignity as it was about money.
The lawsuit in question dates back to 2023, when Aditya Prakash, then a PhD student in the university’s anthropology department, was reheating his lunch – a bowl of palak paneer.
What happened at the university?
According to a report by The Indian Express, Prakash was heating his lunch in a communal microwave oven when a staff member complained of a “pungent” smell and told him not to use the appliance.
Without losing his cool, Prakash reportedly told the employee firmly, “It’s just food. I’m drowning and leaving.”
The situation escalated after Prakash’s partner – Urmi Bhattacheryya, also a Ph.D student, supported him. The couple claimed they were subjected to retaliation for standing up, including repeated meetings with head teachers where Prakash was accused of making a member of staff “not feel safe”.
Bhattacheryya said she was subsequently removed from her role as teaching assistant without explanation. The university, they claimed, also withheld the master’s degrees that doctoral students typically earn along the way — a move they said prompted them to seek legal help.
What did the couple mention in the lawsuit?
In their lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the couple argued that the university fostered a hostile academic environment and that the response to their meal reflected a deeper systemic bias against foreign students.
In September 2025, the University of Colorado Boulder agreed to a settlement, paying Prakash and Bhattacheryya $200,000 and awarding them master’s degrees. However, the settlement also bars them from future enrollment or employment at the university.
How things changed after the food heating episode
Prakash – a native of Bhopal and Bhattacheryya, 35, who hails from Kolkata, first met in Delhi before enrolling for a PhD in the US. Bhattacheryya first took up sociology at the University of Southern California before transferring to the University of Colorado Boulder
According to the couple, their first year passed without incident. Prakash received grants and funding, while Bhattachery’s research on marital rape was well received. Then came the episode involving reheating food – and Prakash told The Indian Express, everything changed overnight.
The couple returned to India in January this year.
