Victim moves HC for removal of Pachauri from TERI

The woman employee who levelled sexual harassment allegations against environmentalist R.K. Pachauri on Monday moved the Delhi High Court seeking his "immediate removal" from the post of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) chief.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath posted the application filed by the woman for November 16, the day when the main plea would come on hearing.

She also sought that she should be allowed to be on leave with full pay till pendency of all cases before various courts, saying TERI has withheld her salary since May.

"Pass an interim direction directing respondent no. 4 (TERI) to remove/suspend the respondent no.5 (Pachauri) from its office with immediate effect," said her application.

"Direct TERI to treat sexual harassment as a misconduct under the service rule and initiate immediate action for such misconduct against Pachauri," it stated.

The woman had earlier filed a plea alleging that TERI had not taken any action against him as recommended by an internal complaints committee in connection with her sexual harassment complaint.

She said TERI and its governing council primarily failed to treat it as a misconduct or suspend Pachauri as recommended by the committee in its report.

After a sexual harassment complaint was filed, Pachauri stepped down as chairperson of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February and proceeded on leave from TERI as its director general.

A decision was taken to remove Pachauri as head of the non-profit think tank TERI in July. The body's governing council replaced him with Ajay Mathur, currently head of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, a government body.

However, in a hearing last month, his counsel informed the court that Pachauri was still TERI director general and he has not been officially relieved of the obligations by the organisation.