FIR against TERI director general RK Pachauri for sexually harassing woman researcher

[caption id=“attachment_2108277” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Teri director Rajendra Pachauri. Image: Wikipedia[/caption] A 29-year-old woman researcher employed by Rajendra Pachauri, the director-general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has accused the 74-year-old of sexually harassing her and registered a first information report (FIR) at the Lodhi Colony Police Station in Delhi  against him on Wednesday night. According to a report in the Economic Times, the FIR alleges Pachauri committed offences under Sections 354, 354A, 354D, 506 of IPC, which deal with outraging the modesty of a woman, sexual harassment, stalking, and criminal intimidation, respectively. The complaint against Pachauri started behaving inappropriately with the woman researcher shortly after she joined TERI in late 2013. “These include unwanted physical advances as well as emails, text and WhatsApp messages, as per the complaint. The complaint alleges that Pachauri persisted in his conduct, even after the complainant asked for a halt to the alleged messages. The research analyst had also moved TERI over the issue on February 9,” the ET report added. According to Indian Express report, Pachauri received interim relief against arrest from the Delhi High Court on Thursday and has been allowed to approach a lower court for anticipatory bail by February 23. In the petition, Pachauri also said that he came to know about “the FIR from news reports.” Pachauri has denied the allegations, claiming that his email ids, mobile phone and WhatsApp messages have been hacked. The Indian Express report also quotes police sources as saying Pachauri “tried contacting” the complainant “on Tuesday morning four times through phone calls and SMS.” According to the Economic Times, the complainant approached the police four days after raising the matter internally at her workplace, where Pachauri is pretty much at the top of the pyramid and has been in charge since 1981. Additionally the Delhi High Court also lifted the ban on publication of news reports on the sexual harassment charges against Pachauri. According to Legally India, on 17 February the court had issued an injunction restraining Bennett Coleman (the publisher for Times of India and Economic Times) from printing news reports on the case against Pachauri. Economic Times had first published an article, then removed the online link for the same on 17 February due to the court order. NewsLaundry which had a copy of the injunction pointed out that the injunction specifically mentioned “Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (the publishers of ET) and ‘John Doe,’” which could be taken to mean that other media houses were also barred from carrying the report. The NewsLaundry report goes on to note, that the “ET journalist who reported on the complaint had sent a detailed questionnaire to Pachauri on February 16, Monday.” The next day Pachauri sent the injunction along with his responses but by then the edition had already gone to print. A spokesperson for Pachauri refused to comment on the matter since it is sub-judice. As CEO of TERI, Pachauri oversees a staff of more than 1,200 employees and has also held numerous academic positions. He was the Founding Director of the Yale (University) Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI), following which he was appointed Senior Adviser to YCEI. He is also currently Professor at the Yale School of Forestry & Environment Studies as well as an honorary Professor of the University of Eastern Finland, and Chancellor of TERI University.