Ex-IPCC chairman RK Pachauri to be tried for sexual harassment
Environmentalist RK Pachauri, the former chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the former director of TERI, will be tried in a sexual harassment case that dates back to 2015. On Friday, a Delhi court ordered charges to be framed against Pachauri, based on allegations of sexual harassment by a research analyst from TERI. However, Pachauri has denied all allegations.
What we know about the complaint against Pachauri
The complaint against Pachauri was filed by a 29-year-old woman, who worked at TERI at the same time he did. The woman has provided police a cache of thousands of electronic messages as evidence for Pachauri's lecherous conduct. She has also accused the former TERI director of kissing her without consent, and inappropriately touching her. The next hearing is on October 20.
The victim's statement following the Delhi court order
Pachauri was never arrested during the investigation
When the woman originally filed the complaint in 2015, Pachauri immediately moved the court seeking anticipatory bail. During the course of the entire investigation so far, Pachauri has never been arrested. Additionally, Pachauri had also filed a civil suit against media houses, seeking to restrain them from covering sexual harassment allegations against him because they were damaging to his reputation.
After a tedious investigation, Delhi Police filed a 1,400-page chargesheet
However, subsequent investigations into saw police pore over 6,000 text and WhatsApp messages exchanged between Pachauri and the complainant between September 2013 and February 2015. In March 2016, the Delhi Police filed a 1,400-page chargesheet against Pachauri for allegedly sexually harassing the woman, stalking her, and criminally intimidating her. Notably, Pachauri was also accused of similar offences by another woman in February 2016.
