Charge sheet filed against Pachauri in sexual harassment case

A charge sheet was filed by police in a sexual harassment case against TERI executive vice chairman R.K Pachauri, court sources said.

"The charge sheet was filed before a metropolitan magistrate Shivani Chauhan in Saket court who posted the matter for April 23 for consideration," victim's counsel advocate Prashant Mendiratta told IANS.

According to court sources, police has chargesheeted Pachuari under various sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, sexual harassment, stalking, criminal intimidation and word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.

Police have cited around 23 prosecution witnesses and several SMS texts, e-mails and WhatsApp messages exchanged between the accused and victim as evidence to support their case.

Pachauri was accused of sexually harassing a female colleague in 2015. He stepped down as chairperson of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February last year and proceeded on leave from TERI where he was the director general.

In November, the woman researcher who accused him of sexual harassment quit her job at TERI, alleging she was treated badly. TERI denied the charge.

On February 8, Pachauri was appointed as the executive vice chairman of the organisation. After severe criticism, TERI on February 12 asked him to proceed on indefinite leave.