Says Enough Material Against Him
In fresh trouble for former Teri chief R K Pachauri, a Delhi court on Saturday summoned him as an accused in a sexual harassment case filed by an ex-colleague.Metropolitan magistrate Shivani Chauhan took cognizance of a chargesheet filed by Delhi police against the environmentalist, saying there was enough material to proceed against him under charges dealing with stalking, and using words, gestures or acts intended to insult a woman’s modesty .

“There are allegations against the accused that he made sexually-coloured remarks about the complainant on many occasions. He touched the complainant inappropriately despite a clear expression of disapproval. He also sent inappropriate SMSs, WhatsApp mess ages and emails to the complainant,“ Chauhan said. “Let the accused (Pachauri) be summoned on the next date,“ she added, fixing July 11 as the date. A copy of the chargesheet will be given to Pachauri on that day . The charges against R K Pachauri translate into Indian Penal Code offences of sections 354A (advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures), 354B (using criminal force against a woman), 354D (stalking), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 341 (wrongful restraint). However, the court dropped charges against him under section 506 (criminal intimidation).

On March 1, Delhi police had filed an over 1,400-page chargesheet in court against Pachauri. The chargesheet cites 23 prosecution witnesses, many of whom are present and former employees of Teri.A Delhi court had last year granted anticipatory bail to the Teri ex-boss who has not been arrested yet in the case.

On February 13 last year, an FIR was registered against him for sexual harassment under IPC sections 354, 354(a), 354(d) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation). He is accused of sexually harassing a female colleague. In November last year, the woman researcher who accused him of sexual harassment quit her job at Teri, alleging that she was treated badly, a charge denied by the organization. Almost a year later, in 2016, he was appointed executive vicechairman of the organization but following public outrage and criticism he went on indefinite leave.