An Indian PhD couple, Aditya Prakash and Urmi Bhattacheryya, have been awarded a $200,000 (approximately Rs 1.66 - 1.8 crore) civil rights settlement from the University of Colorado Boulder in the United States. The dispute originated on September 5, 2023, when Prakash was reheating palak paneer in a shared departmental microwave and a staff member complained about its "pungent" smell, asking him not to use the appliance. Following this incident, the couple alleged that they faced a pattern of discriminatory treatment and escalating retaliation from the university. Prakash claimed he was repeatedly summoned to meetings and accused of making staff feel unsafe, while Bhattacheryya reportedly lost her teaching assistantship without explanation and was accused of "inciting a riot" after eating Indian food. They argued that departmental kitchen policies disproportionately affected South Asian students. In May 2025, Prakash and Bhattacheryya filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the university in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The university subsequently settled the case in September 2025, agreeing to pay the $200,000, confer Master's degrees to both scholars, but also stipulating that they would be barred from any future enrollment or employment at the institution. The couple has since returned to India, stating they have no desire to re-enter the US academic system given the visa precarity and experiences of systemic racism.