More than five months after a junior female colleague accused renowned environmentalist Rajendra Kumar Pachauri of sexual harassment, The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) removed him as its director general on Thursday.
According to reports, Teri appointed Ajay Mathur as its new director general replacing RK Pachauri, who turns 75 next month.
Though Pachauri denies the charges against him, he had stepped down as the chairman of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in February and went on leave at Teri.
Citing many SMSes, emails and WhatsApp messages as evidence, the 29-year-old woman accused Pachauri of sexually harassing her soon after she joined Teri in September 2013. She had filed a police case against Pachauri on February 13 after an internal complaint to the organisation on February 9.
The police had registered a case under Sections 354, 354A, 354D (charges like sexual harassment, stalking, molestation) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Pachauri.
He was granted anticipatory bail on March 21, but was directed not to enter the Teri offices till the investigation was over. He was also directed not to leave the country without the court's permission. However, the restrictions were lifted partially a few days ago.
