RK Pachauri becomes Teri executive VC, woman who alleged sexual harassment calls it a 'promotion'

Notwithstanding charges of sexual harassment against him by a former female colleague and the decision of The Energy and Research Institute's (Teri) governing council to appoint Ajay Mathur as the organisation's new director-general, RK Pachauri on Monday assumed a newly created post of executive vice-chairman in Teri even as Mathur replaced him as director-general. Pachauri has been charged with sexual harassment by a woman researcher who used to work directly under the veteran climate scientist and later resigned from her job as she felt 'let down' by TERI. She has now moved to another organisation. In his new post, Pachauri will provide guidance on specific task of TERI's expansion in this country and overseas.

The change in guard comes seven months after Teri's governing council appointed Mathur, former director-general of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, to replace Pachauri as Teri's DG. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is a statutory body under the Union ministry of power. Mathur is an ex-Teri employee having worked there between 1986 and 2000.

Though Teri governing council's decision to appoint Mathur in Pachauri's position was seen as action against his misconduct with a junior colleague, the veteran scientist had continued to be involved in the organisation's daily affairs from its Defence Colony office. On Monday, TeriI employees received an e-mail in the afternoon from the company's human resources department announcing that Mathur has joined as DG. The e-mail which was reviewed by dna read, "This is to inform that Dr Ajay Mathur has joined as Director-General of Teri from today. The Governing Council of TERI has appointed Dr RK Pachauri as executive vice-chairman with immediate effect."

According to employees of Teri who are in the know of Monday's developments, Pachauri and some Teri employees took Mathur on a tour of the organisation's offices in Gwal Pahari, Gurgaon, Defence Colony and India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road. Later in the evening, employees were asked to join Pachauri for snacks and tea in a gathering to welcome Mathur. In his speech to the employees, Pachauri described Mathur's taking charge as a 'homecoming' while Mathur told employees that they now have 'one more door open for them' to speak on issues.

Speaking to dna on the developments in Teri, the woman complainant said,"I did expect something on these lines to happen but now that it's coming in officially, it gave me a sick feeling. His (Pachauri's) new post is a promotion. Pachauri should have been suspended pending the ICC inquiry and asked to find a new job when the ICC gave their verdict but he has clung on, rather comfortably. The organisation created a hostile environment for me and my colleagues were allegedly pressurised to get me to hsve the case settled out of court. This whole experience took a huge toll on my health too, both physically and mentally "

On February 20, 2015 a 29-year old female researcher with Teri, who directly worked under Pachauri, filed an FIR against him on grounds of sexual harassment and misconduct. The complaint created a stir and Pachauri had to step down from his post in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and he even resigned from the Prime Minister's panel on climate change, both in the same month. The female researcher had also filed a complaint against Pachauri Teri's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) on February 9th.

She had alleged that in her two years of work at Teri she was repeatedly harassed by Pachauri with unwanted sexual advances physically and via e-mail and sms. After probing the complaint the ICC, in May, found Pachauri guilty of misconduct and had asked for disciplinary action against him but that did not happen as Pachauri got the ICC report stayed from the Industrial Labour Tribunal, on the grounds that the probe did not follow natural justice.