Under fire, Pachauri is on leave
A day after the appointment of R. K. Pachauri as Teri executive vicechairman triggered outrage, he proceeded on leave on Thursday even as a high- level meeting of the institute’s officials went on till late evening. The acting VC confirmed that he will skip Teri university’s convocation scheduled for March 7.
In a parallel development, the Delhi police told the Delhi HC that it was likely to file a chargesheet within 15 days in the sexual harassment case registered in February last year.
A day after the appointment of R. K. Pachauri as Teri executive vice- chairman triggered outrage, he proceeded on leave on Thursday even as a highlevel meeting of the institute’s officials went on till late evening. The acting VC confirmed that he will skip Teri University’s convocation scheduled for March 7.
In a parallel development, the Delhi police told the Delhi high court that it was likely to file a chargesheet within 15 days in the sexual harassment case registered in February last year against the environmentalist. The cops said that the draft report has already been sent to prosecution branch. They also apprised the court of a proposed out-of-court settlement in the case.
Trouble for Dr Pachauri had mounted on Wednesday after a second woman, a former employee of Teri, had come out in public making sexual harassment allegations. His elevation to the post of executive vice- chairman had invited flak from the alumni and women activists across the country as well. A group of students from Teri had even refused to receive their degrees from him.
“Yes. He is on leave. I can confirm this as his position as chancellor of Teri University. As chancellor, he is on leave. He communicated this today. The convocation is on March 7. He ( Dr Pachauri) would not be attending it,” Teri varsity acting VC Rajiv Seth said. Asked who would be holding the position of chancellor during Dr Pachauri’s absence, Mr Seth said it is yet to be decided and since the VC is involved in the day- to- day affairs of any university, Dr Pachauri’s going on leave will not affect the institution’s functioning in anyway.
On the letter that was written to him by the alumni, Mr Seth said that opinions must be debated and the university will never suppress them. “We always had a spirit of openness and debate at the university. It is okay if people come up with opinions, we must debate it. We would not like to suppress any opinions. It is very important as an academic institution to have openness and open debate. At Teri, which is a research university, this is encouraged even more,” he said.
Some alumni of 2013- 2015 batch, had on Wednesday written to Mr Seth saying the recent “inaction” of the board of management at Teri University with respect to Pachauri “deeply saddened” them.