The colleague who alleged then-director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), RK Pachauri, has strongly criticised the institute’s decision to create a new job title for Pachauri - executive vice chairman - despite her case remaining pending.

She told Mint.

The whole process has been exhausting and my health has suffered as a result. But I wonder why I was made to undergo the inquiry by Teri when the governing council (GC) did not want to uphold the outcome. The GC had 10 days, from 19 May (when the ICC report was given) to 29 May (the date on which Pachauri obtained a stay from the Industrial Labour Tribunal), to take action.What were they doing for those 10 days? Action is usually taken overnight. He (Pachauri) should have been suspended pending the inquiry. But no disciplinary action has ever been initiated against him.

In an open letter the complainant wrote, which was published in Caravan , she said:

Shamelessness abounds! The news of promotion of a man who stands booked on charges of sexual harassment at a workplace, stalking and criminal intimidation by the country’s who’s who makes my flesh crawl.

While a prayer lay in the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi seeking suspension of R K Pachauri (in compliance with the basics of the SH act so that my rights to work are unaffected), TERI’s Governing Council held a meeting around the same time because the man was looking to maintain his foothold in TERI

Several lawyers have told Mint that Pachauri’s appointment violated the Vishaka guidelines codified in sexual harassment laws.

Photo by Evstafiev