The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed a plea by a woman, who has accused TERI Director General R K Pachauri of sexual harassment, seeking removal of her name from a petition seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to him. Justice S P Garg said the woman be now referred to as ‘Ms X’ in the proceedings pending before him.
The court, however, declined her plea for early hearing of the matter, saying there was no urgency and it will be heard on the date already fixed, December 3.
The application of the woman was filed before the court which was hearing her plea for cancelling the anticipatory bail granted to Pachauri by a lower court on March 21. The 29-year-old female research analyst has alleged in her plea that “free and fair investigation” cannot be carried out if he was “allowed to roam around freely”.
Countering this contention, the TERI chief had said there was “nothing on record to suggest that free and fair probe is not possible in the present case”. On March 21, Pachauri was granted anticipatory bail by the trial court which had rejected the police request for his custody in the case. On February 13, an FIR was registered against Pachauri on charges of sexual harassment under IPC sections 354, 354(a), 354(d) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Pachauri, who is currently on leave from TERI, has requested a modification of an earlier court order and permission to resume work from the office premises. After the sexual harassment complaint, Pachauri had stepped down as chairperson of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in February and proceeded on leave from TERI.
( Source – PTI )
