Palak paneer row ends in $200,000 payout for Indian PhD students in US

This is the story of two Indian students studying in the US who won a $200,000 settlement after facing discrimination over the "smell" of palak paneer

Can heating your food on your college campus in the US become a turning point in your life, one that would eventually push you to fight back against how you were treated? It happened with two Indian students in the US, who later won a $200,000 civil rights settlement after facing discrimination over the “smell” of palak paneer.

 

According to The Indian Express, the settlement was awarded to two Indian PhD students, Aditya Prakash and his wife, Urmi Bhattacheryya, at the University of Colorado Boulder, who alleged sustained discrimination linked to their choice of Indian food on campus.

How a lunch sparked a legal battle

According to the report, the incident took place in 2023. On September 5 that year, Aditya Prakash, who was then a PhD scholar in the university’s Anthropology Department, heated his lunch of palak paneer in a departmental microwave, around a year after joining the programme.

 

He said a staff member approached him, objected to the “smell” of the food, and asked him not to use the microwave. According to Prakash, the staff member described the smell as “pungent”. He said he responded calmly but firmly: “It’s just food. I’m heating and leaving.”

From complaint to settlement

The episode, Prakash said, marked the beginning of what he described as systemic discrimination.

 

Speaking to The Indian Express about the events that followed, Prakash said the department refused to grant them their Master’s degrees, which prompted them to seek legal action. “The department also refused to grant us Master’s degrees that PhD students are awarded en route to the PhD. That’s when we decided to seek legal recourse,” he said.

 

In their lawsuit filed before the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, the pair alleged that after Prakash raised concerns about discriminatory treatment, the university “engaged in a pattern of escalating retaliation”.

 

They pointed to a departmental kitchen policy that they said had a “disproportionate and discriminatory impact on ethnic groups like South Asians”, arguing that it discouraged Indian students from opening their lunches in shared spaces. The lawsuit said the treatment caused them “emotional distress, mental anguish, and pain and suffering”.

 

In September 2025, following the civil rights lawsuit, the university reached a settlement with Prakash and his partner, Urmi Bhattacheryya.

 

Under the agreement, the university paid the couple $200,000, awarded them Master’s degrees that PhD candidates typically receive en route to completion, and barred them from future enrolment or employment at the institution. The two returned to India permanently this month, The Indian Express report said.

A turning point

After the food-heating episode, Prakash said everything changed. “My food is my pride. And notions about what smells good or bad to someone are culturally determined,” he told The Indian Express.

 

He recalled pushing back against comparisons drawn by faculty members. “I replied that context matters. ‘How many groups of people do you know who face racism because they eat broccoli?’,” he added.

 

The couple said 29 fellow students from the Anthropology Department supported them, criticising what they called a “harmful response” to “discriminatory food policies”. The students cited the department’s own statement on systemic racism and violence, saying diversity should be actively respected.

Broader climate and decision to leave

Bhattacheryya said action against her followed two days after the incident, when she invited Prakash to speak about his lived experience in a class on ethnocentrism, without naming individuals or detailing the episode.

 

Prakash said the situation soon became untenable. Bhattacheryya linked their experience to broader changes in the US following Donald Trump’s return to power.

 

“There is a hardening, a kind of narrowing of empathy. Institutions talk a lot about inclusion, but there is less patience for discomfort, especially if that discomfort comes from immigrants or people of colour,” she said.

University response

In a statement to The Indian Express, university spokesperson Deborah Mendez-Wilson said: “The university reached an agreement with the plaintiffs and denies any liability. The university has established processes to address allegations of discrimination and harassment, and it adhered to those processes in this matter. CU Boulder remains committed to fostering an inclusive environment for students, faculty and staff.”

Impact on academic lives

Prakash told The Indian Express that at the time of the incident, he was a fully funded PhD student. He alleged that he was repeatedly summoned to meetings with senior faculty, accused of making staff feel unsafe, and reported to the Office of Student Conduct.

 

Bhattacheryya said she lost her teaching assistant position without prior notice or explanation. She also alleged that when she, Prakash, and three other students brought Indian food to campus two days after the incident, they were accused of “inciting a riot”. She said the Office of Student Conduct later dismissed those complaints.

 

Prakash, who is from Bhopal, and Bhattacheryya, 35, from Kolkata, first met in Delhi before pursuing doctoral studies in the United States. Bhattacheryya initially enrolled in sociology at the University of Southern California before transferring to the University of Colorado Boulder.