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Share your ideas and opinions 15 June 2016 Vol III Issue 3
Rajendra Kumar Pachauri is a renowned
climate scientist who holds the distinction
of acquiring distinguished posts in the
National and International Organizations.
He is more revered for his 35 years of
association with The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI) as Director
General and later on as Executive Vice
Chairman. Moreover, under his
supervision as a Chairman of
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), the organization was
also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of
2007, which adds yet another cap to
the impressive professional career of
Mr. Pachauri.
However, we are not here to talk about
his achievements but about a serious
issue that may or may not have changed
his life, but has certainly jolted the life of
a young TERI employee. In February
2015, a 29-year old female employee of
TERI accused Pachauri of sexual
harassment. She alleged that Pachauri
used to harass her and was involved in
‘sexually-laden conversations’ with her
through SMS and emails since
September 2013. Acting on her
complaint, Delhi Police lodged FIR against
Pachauri on the charges of sexual
harassment under IPC Sections 354,
354(A), 354(D) (molestation) and 506
(criminal intimidation). Following the
allegations, he was compelled to resign
from IPCC and TERI.
The complainant also approached the
Internal Complaints Committee, which
found the 75-year old climate scientist
guilty of the offences leveled against him.
The ICC in its report said that Pachauri’s
conduct led to misuse of his position
and violation of TERI’s policy on sexual
harassment. Pachauri had to go on leave
following the allegations but rejoined the
office in July 2015 after the Industrial
Tribunal stayed actions based on
an Internal Complaints
Committee (ICC) report.
Alleging further harassment,
the complainant resigned from
the organization. In her
resignation letter to
TERI Human Resource Director Dinesh
Verma, she wrote that the organisation
treated her in the worst possible manner
and harmed her mentally, professionally
and economically.
In the letter, she stated, “The Council
could not even suspend a man pending
inquiry and took no action despite the
indictment. You also created a hostile
environment for me, which has only
escalated and showed no signs of
subsiding whatsoever. It is becoming
clear that the Governing Council works
for the DG and under his instructions.
There has been no changeover in the
DG as well as stated on 23 July 2015.
I am tendering my resignation from TERI
with immediate effect.”
The complainant
alleged TERI to
have changed
her work profile
a n d p l a y e d
“deaf” to all her
requests. Earlier,
she also wrote to
PM Modi, pleading
for his intervention in the case.
On February 9, 2016, Pachauri was
asked to quit as Director General of TERI.
Surprisingly, this event was followed by
his promotion as Executive Vice
Chairman of TERI’s Governing Council,
a designation especially created for him.
Two days after her appointment, one of
the other former TERI workers raised
voice against sexual harassment by
Pachauri. The allegations gave strength
to the case filed by the first complainant.
Ultimately, Delhi Police filed chargesheet
against the TERI boss apropos to the
FIR lodged by the first complainant,
regarding sexual harassment after one
year, on March 1, 2016. It cited around
23 prosecution witnesses and hundreds
of SMS texts, emails and WhatsApp
messages that were communicated
between the accused and victim as
evidence to support the case.
In the same month, on March 30, yet
another victim from Europe surfaced with
the complaint of sexual harassment
against Pachauri, which created more
problems for him. Under grave pressure,
he was asked to resign from the post of
Executive Vice Chairman.
In relation to the filing of the chargesheet
by Delhi Police, a Delhi court summoned
Pachauri for July 11, 2016 as accused
for sexually harassing and outraging the
modesty of an ex-colleague. In her
judgment, Metropolitan Magistrate
Shivani Chauhan stated, “There are
allegations against the accused that he
made sexually coloured remarks upon
the complainant on several occasions.”
As adamant as one could seem,
Mr. Pachauri had already rubbished all
the allegations against him leveled by
the 29-year old former TERI researcher.
To the contrary, he has filed a defamation
case against the lawyer Vrinda Grover
worth `1 crore with the allegation that
she attempted to prejudice the ongoing
sexual harassment case against him.
Notably, Grover has brought into public
the statements of two women who were
former TERI employees and claimed to
have been sexually harassed by Pachauri.
In a latest development, the main
complainant has decided to appeal for
a fast track trial in the Delhi High Court.
Her lawyer Prashant Mendiratta said that
the police has already taken more than
a year to file the chargesheet in the sexual
harassment case, now she does not
want any further delay.
Did the complainant get justice?
R K Pachauri Sexual Harassment Case
In February 2015, a 29-year old female employee of TERI accused
Pachauri of sexual harassment. She alleged that Pachauri used to
harass her and was involved in ‘sexually-laden conversations’
with her through SMS and emails since September 2013.
TM
2
THE GLARING FLAWS IN
THE CASE
Lapses by Police
Delay in filing chargesheet:
Our law allows the timeframe of 60 days
to file a chargesheet for charges that
accompany at least seven years of
imprisonment. Failing this deadline entitles
the accused to get bail automatically.
Like in many other cases, this one also
got affected due to delay by Police as it
framed chargesheet only on March1,
2016, which was much ahead of the July
2015, deadline set by the court.
Overall, it took more than one year for
Delhi Police to file the chargesheet after
lodging FIR in the first sexual harassment
complaint by the TERI employee. In her
statement, she leveled charges of
stalking, criminal intimidation, assault and
sexual harassment against Pachauri. The
one year delay helped TERI Chief to
influence the evidences and witnesses
and regain his position in the organization.
Lethargic attitude of Police:
A Delhi court denied the request of Delhi
Police to put Pachauri in custody, granting
him anticipatory bail on March 21, 2015.
However, in a latter judgment, the court
restricted Pachauri from holding his office.
It also instructed the police to complete
its investigation into sexual harassment
allegations on the climate scientist by
July 17, 2015. Unfortunately, the police
failed to file the chargesheet by the
allotted deadline, make it easier for
Pachauri to return to work after leave,
with legal sanctions.
Mihira Sood, one of the keen followers
of the Pachauri case and an Advocate-
on-Record at the Supreme Court opines
that the court should not have granted
anticipatory bail to Pachauri or allowed
him to work at TERI yet again. She said,
“Legally, it’s not okay that Pachauri was
allowed to return to work at TERI,
because there wasn’t just the one victim:
another has come forward, and there
may be others too.” She mentioned, “The
court should have kept in mind the rather
liberal way in which he’s been issuing
threats all of which are grounds to refuse
bail. He can silence witnesses or tamper
with documentary evidence.”
TERI failed miserably
in protecting the rights of
the complainant
The blindfold support for Pachauri
emerged as a total failure on the part of
TERI, both on moral and legal grounds.
After the complainant sought redressal
from the ICC committee, TERI’s
management must have implemented
the recommendations. It should have
inquired if the affected wants to file a
police complaint or she requires any
document from the office to prove her
allegations. The management should
have also encouraged the witnesses to
help the victim. Ironically, nothing of that
sort happened. Instead, Pachauri
managed to get stay on the ICC report
from a court, which was yet another blow
to the hope of justice for the former TERI
Researcher in the sexual harassment
case.
The complaints of the two other
TERI female workers went
unheard: On February 26, 2015, lawyer
Vrinda Grover urged Delhi Police to
register two cases regarding sexual
harassment of women workers in TERI;
both the victims being her clients. The
police however remained reluctant to
register the cases. In an interview to the
Huffington Post India, she told that both
the female TERI workers approached her
in February, 2015, immediately after the
FIR was lodged against Pachauri.
Since then, she has been persistently
asking the Police to record the statement
of her clients with no success at all. Done
with the Police, Vrinda decided to make
the statements of both the female victims
public who alleged to have been sexually
harassed by the former TERI General
Director. In the statement, both referred
him as a serial sexual harasser.
As can be expected, this move did not
go well with Pachauri as he directed his
lawyer Ashish Dixit to file the suit against
Grover on April 5, in Patiala House Court
seeking injunction and `1 Crore in
damages. In the petition, Pachauri
maintained that there is nothing against
him in the official record. The statements
released openly in the media have however
helped prejudice the ongoing case.
The ICC head put papers
under mysterious conditions
Ranjana Saikia was the head of the
Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at
TERI. She found R K Pachauri guilty of
sexually harassing and outraging the
modesty of the complainant. However,
she resigned unexpectedly without citing
any reason. After her resignation, TERI
reconstituted the committee, which
upheld all the allegations on Pachauri
and did not act on the recommendations
of the previous committee headed by
Ms. Saikia.
Complete violation of
Vishaka Guidelines
In 1997, the Supreme Court laid down
Vishaka Guidelines to deal with the sexual
harassment cases at the workplace.
These guidelines were further codified
into the Sexual Harassment of Women
at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act in 2013. The law states:
An organization having more than
10 employees must have an Internal
Complaints Committee (ICC) to deal
with the offenses of sexual harassment.
The committee must be presided over
by a woman.
At least half of the committee members
must be females.
It should have one external member,
preferably from an NGO or from a body
having familiarity with the cases of
sexual harassment.
As per legal experts, the introduction of
this law witnessed a steep surge in the
set up of ICCs in the private firms,
resulting into improved compliance.
Interestingly, it was only in November
2013 when the Supreme Court came up
with its own grievance redressal
mechanism for sexual harassment.
Coming back to the case, according to
the law, the TERI Chief should not be
permitted to enter the offer where he has
been charged of sexual harassment
allegations. However, making a mockery
of the law, he was not only allowed to
rejoin the office but was also offered a
position of power. The Supreme Court
lawyer and Human Rights Activist Vrinda
Grover termed this act as the clear
negligence of the law on the part of TERI.
With this, the organization has condoned
sexual harassment without exhibiting
recourse for the complainant, she said.
Indeed, the case demonstrated sheer
lack of sincerity in the handling of sexual
harassment allegations.
Honoring Pachauri
Despite allegations on the TERI Chief, he
was honored with an especially created
designation of Executive Vice Chairman
in the organization. The appointment was
carried out after a mutual agreement by
the Governing Council which included
HSBC’s country head Naina Lal Kidwai,
former Secretary to the Government of
India Shailesh Nayak and HDFC
Chairman Deepak Parekh. All this
happened after the Director General was
sacked in July 2015 following the
allegations of sexual harassment on
Pachauri by his 29-year old female TERI
colleague.
However, after another female employee
of TERI accused R K of sexual
harassment in a public statement with
the help of Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda
Grover, things went awry for him. The
Governing Council was compelled to
face continuous pressure by the students
and alumni at TERI University, in which
Pachauri was a Chancellor. The civil
society was equally loggerheads with the
decision of TERI to escalate Pachauri in
the organization. As a result, the council
met again on February 12 and declared
a new statement. It stated, “Pachauri,
who had been at the Head of the Institute
since 1982 will be on leave from TERI,
TERI Governing Council, and TERI
University till this is reviewed by the
Governing Council given the subjudice
nature of the matter.”
Mr. R K Pachauri
TERI University Campus
TM
3
Pachauri summoned as
accused
A Delhi court that took cognizance of
the chargesheet filed by advocate
Prashant Mendiratta on behalf of the
first complainant against R K Pachauri,
summoned him as accused on May
14, 2016. Reading out the court
statement, Metropolitan Magistrate
Shivani Chauhan said “The court is
satisfied that there is sufficient material
to proceed against accused R K
Pachauri under Sections 354-A, 354-
B, 354-D, 509 and 341 of IPC.
Cognizance taken accordingly Let the
accused be summoned for the next
date i.e. July 11.”
The summon was moved in connection
with the 1400+ page chargesheet filed
by Delhi Police in the court against the
former TERI Chief on March 1, 2016. It
comprised the statement of the
complainant to the police where she
accused Pachauri of calling her into his
room where he hugged her tightly from
her back after closing the door. “I
elbowed Pachauri in the ribs to escape
out of his embrace and pushed him
back,” she said in the statement.
She further stated in the chargesheet,
“During a trip to Pakistan, Pachauri tried
to hug her. In his room, he went down
on his knees and said ‘main pyaar
maang raha hoon (I am seeking love)’.
When I started leaving, he opened the
door for me and tried to hug me. I
pushed him with my elbows and went
to my room.” The chargesheet
contained statements of 23 prosecution
witnesses, a bulk of whom are the
current and former TERI employees.
Reacting on the chargesheet, the
Metropolitan Magistrate said,
“Chargesheet perused. Heard. There
are allegations against the accused that
he made sexually coloured remarks
upon the complainant on several
occasions. He touched the complainant
inappropriately despite a clear
expression of disapproval from her side.
He sent inappropriate SMSes and
WhatsApp messages to the
complainant.” Notably, the chargesheet
was filed in relation to the FIR lodged
by Delhi Police in February 2015 against
Pachauri on the charges of sexual
harassment. He was booked under IPC
Sections 354, 354(A), 354(D)
(molestation) and 506 (criminal
intimidation).
Delhi High Court refused to
stay the proceedings before
an Industrial Tribunal
On May 18, The Delhi High Court did
not approve of the stay to the
proceedings before an Industrial
Tribunal, which is hearing the plea of R
K Pachauri against the findings of TERI’s
ICC against in the sexual harassment
case. In a decision given by the bench
of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice
Jayant Nath, the court said, “It cannot
give any interim order at the fag end of
the hearing before the Tribunal where
the matter is to be taken up on
May 19.”
It added, “Now at the fag end, you
(former TERI employee, who filed
complaint against Mr. Pachauri before
the committee) are coming and pressing
for the interim order which cannot be
granted at this stage.” The order came
during the hearing of a plea by the
former TERI Researcher. She had
alleged that TERI failed to act on 75-
year old Pachauri as per the ICC
recommendations in relation to her
sexual harassment complaint.
Earlier, on March 4, 2014, the High
Court had also dismissed the
complainant’s plea to cancel the
anticipatory bail to Pachauri, granted
by a trial court.
IMPORTANT
JUDGMENT
Amit Mohaan Meharia BA. LLB. (Hons.)
King’s College, London, Solicitor (Supreme
Court of England and Wales)
Moonmoon Karmakar MA (English),
Calcutta University, PGDBA(HR)
Teesta Haldar Teacher BA (Calcutta
University), MA (JNU)
Samita Das MA (English), Presidency
University
Nilotpal Sen Director,
Ebong Advertising Solutions
PGD in Mass Communication
(Jadavpur University)
Editor’s Note
Get your voice heard at
TM
. We shall bring your views to light.
Write to us at speakup@researchatsashwaat.com
The case of TERI Researcher
concerning sexual harassment by her
senior colleague is just another of the
hundreds, perhaps thousands of such
incidents happening in India and around
the world. Those who are able to muster
enough courage come forward and
raise voice against their sinners.
Unfortunately, many victims still prefer
to maintain silence and bear the agony.
In the current scenario where world’s
leading nations and institutions are
being headed by fairer sex, such type
of sexual discrimination is piercing. The
need is therefore to accumulate the
strength from deep within to lock horns
with the evildoers and bring them to
book.
In August 2015, Women and Child
Development Minister Maneka Gandhi
revealed a staggering fact in the
Parliament. In her speech, she said that
alone in 2014, 526 cases of sexual
harassment on women took place
during work. Out of these, 57 cases
happened at office premises and 469
cases were reported at other places
related to work.
According to the data gathered by
National Commission for Women till
2014, the incidences of sexual
harassment at workplace have
increased heavily in the past few years,
with 2014 being the peak of such cases.
Talking about the figures, the cases of
this nature registered in 2011 were 170,
which dipped to 167 in 2012. In 2013,
the complaints of sexual harassment
at work again soared to 249 cases while
in 2014 alone, total 526 cases were
registered; more than double as
compared to 2013. The findings are
indeed shocking, saddening, baffling
and agitating.
The rise in these incidences don’t come
as a surprise considering the fact that
around 35% of the companies surveyed
by NCW had no clue of the penal
consequences for non-compliance
when constituting their Internal
Complaints Committees. As per the
report, the global companies at 38%
were even more ignorant about the
non-compliance of the committees.
Even more striking fact was that, near
about 44% of the respondent
companies do not make aware their
employees of the penal consequences
of sexual harassment at work. These
are the findings from only few
respondents, the picture is even worse
at the broader perspective. The sexual
harassment cases against Tarun Tejpal,
Ashok Ganguly, Gopal Kanda and
more, are just the few to take place in
the wake of such non-compliances.
Moving over, most of the cases go
unregistered because of the pressure
from the higher management within the
organizations; the same happened in
the Pachauri case as well. Despite the
TERI ICC report finding him guilty of
sexual harassment, the complainant
was excessively pressurized to
withdraw her allegation. In an open
letter, she revealed that many of her
colleagues were asked to convince her
to withdraw the complaint. Ultimately,
she quit under monumental pressure
from all round. As a silverlining, she did
manage to file FIR against the
wrongdoer and appeal High Court to
speed up the proceedings.
Encouraged by her efforts and seeing
the undue favors to R K Pachauri in
TERI, two more women also came to
the fore with similar stories of sexual
harassment by the TERI Chief. This has
smoldered her case appreciably and
most probably, would help her get
positive judgment. However, many
stories still remain unfolded within the
organization. We have high hopes that
all the TERI employees who have been
exploited sometimes or the other by
their colleagues or the TERI boss would
come forward help the complainant get
justice. Ultimately, it will be a victory
not only for the first complainant but
also for the entire female fraternity that
has been harassed and exploited at
work just because of their gender.
Board of Advisors
TM
4
Published by Amit Meharia Designed by Ebong Advertising Solutions Pvt Ltd., 201 Jodhpur Gardens, Kolkata 700 045
Owned by Sashwaat Society of Education & Research Place of Publication 9, Old Post Office Street, 2nd floor, Kolkata 700 001
The Registrar of Newspaper Authority of India, Registration No: 126443/2013
An initiative by
GameZone
Finish the words
Tehelka, the sensational news magazine
keeps on hitting the headlines owing to its
much talked about sting operations and
investigative journalisms. Founded by Tarun
Tejpal and Aniruddha Bahal, it is best known
for its role in digging out cricket match
fixing scandal in 2000, followed by
Operation West End in 2001 and so on.
Ironically, Tejpal himself was compelled to
bear the brunt of media criticism and public
scrutiny due to the sexual allegations
leveled against him in November 2013.
Tejpal was accused of raping one of her
junior colleagues during ThinkFest, a high
profile conference that was organized by
the Tehelka magazine founder himself. The
incident took place on November 7, 2013
at a starred hotel in North Goa. The victim
who is at present working on a research
assignment claimed that she has been
sexually assaulted in the hotel elevator by
a person who was a friend and a father
figure for her.
On her complaint, Goa Police registered a
suo moto FIR against Tarun Tejpal on
November 22. He was booked under
Sections 354, 354-A (sexual harassment),
341 and 342 (wrongful restrain), 376 (rape),
376(2)(F) and 376 (2)(K) (takes advantage
of his official position and commits rape in
his custody). Later on, he was arrested on
November 30, 2013 after the rejection of
his anticipatory bail plea.
The Goa Crime Branch filed a long
chargesheet of over 2,800 pages against
Tehelka founder. It stated, “There is
sufficient evidence available in the form of
documents, statements and electronic
records, on record, to prove that on
November 7, 2013, the victim was raped,
sexually harassed, and her modesty
outraged inside an elevator... by her own
employer Tarun Tejpal.” The court found
him guilty and sentenced more than seven
years of imprisonment. But that was not
the happy ending for the young victim,
since she still awaits complete justice.
Tejpal filed for interim bail to attend his
mother’s cremation, following which he was
released on May 19, 2014. Since then, he
has been roaming free and the case is still
pending in the court. The reputed journalist
is however still adamant and has denied
sexually assaulting his female co-worker.
He says, “I have not admitted to rape, it
was consensual and I have apologised for
that. I have not admitted, not admitted to
rape.” His initial response to the allegations
was also very casual and drew huge
criticism. In an email to Tehelka
Management, he wrote that there had been
an “unfortunate incident” between him and
the victim, describing it as “a bad lapse of
judgment.”
Tejpal also accused the investigators of
not handling over him the relevant
documents and materials related to the
case to prepare for his defence. In addition,
he demanded a “cloned copy” of the data
on his phone and laptop that was taken
under custody by the police. In connection
with his appeal, the Supreme Court in May
2015, allowed a Goa judge one more year
to fulfill the formalities of data handover
and begin the trial. However, the Goa Crime
Branch is still clueless on starting the
proceeding anytime soon. Moreover, with
155 witnesses waiting for their turn to
depose, there are high chances for the
case to drag on to the third year or even
more.
While the trial court is yet to navigate though
the pool of sentiments and arguments, the
million dollar question is whether the victim
will get the justice at all, and if yes,
then when?
R K Pachauri summoned as accused in
sexual harassment case
Former TERI Chief R K Pachauri was
summoned as accused by a
Delhi court which took
cognizance of a chargesheet
filed against him for allegedly
sexually harassing and
outraging the modesty of an ex-colleague.
“The court is satisfied that there is sufficient
material to proceed against accused R K
Pachauri under Sections 354-A, 354-B,
354-D, 509 and 341 of IPC. Cognizance
taken accordingly ... Let the accused be
summoned for the next date i.e. July 11.”
Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani
Chauhan said.
TERI Sexual Harassment Case: R K
Pachauri's Defence Will Drop The Claim
That His Devices Were Hacked
More than a year after a case of sexual
harassment was filed against
former TERI Head R K
Pachauri, his defence is moving
away from the earlier claim that
his devices were hacked. His
lawyer now says that the climate scientist’s
computer and email was probably not
hacked, but misused by those who knew
his passwords. He claimed that they
thought it was hacked initially, but he had
said his accounts were misused even in
his reply to the Climate Think-Tank’s
Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in
March last year, less than a month after
the police complaint against him.
R K Pachauri Says He Left TERI Of His
Own Accord, To Pursue Opportunities
Abroad
R K Pachauri, the former chief of The
Energy and Resources Institute
(TERI) who is facing serious
sexual harassment allegations
from a junior colleague, told
Huffington Post India that he voluntarily
decided to end his association with the
Climate Think Tank, which he has headed
for over 35 years. “I felt that it was time
for me to move away and get engaged
in other interests which I have harboured
over the past few years for activities at
the global level,” he said in a statement.
TERI Governing Council Severs Ties
With R K Pachauri
The Governing Council of The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI) has decided to
sever its ties with the
organization’s former chief
R K Pachauri, according to
reports. His term as a member
of the GC ended in March, according to
TERI officials, and it has not been
extended, leading to a premature
termination of his employment contract
with TERI as well, which expired only in
2017. He headed TERI for 35 years.
1. Where the oldest High Court in India is located?
CURRENT SCENARIO
As of now, the complainant is still
wondering if she will ever get justice and
see Pachauri behind the bars. She also
awaits TERI to recall her with due dignity
and apologize for the misconduct done
on her owing to the intense pressure from
Pachauri. Recently, she has planned to
move the Delhi High Court to demand a
fast track trial to avoid any further delay
in the case.
Earlier, in May 2016, a Delhi court
summoned R K Pachauri as accused in
the sexual harassment case leveled
against him by the complainant, who was
one of Pachauri’s junior colleagues. The
court has asked to put the 75-year old
former TERI Chief to trial under Sections-
354/354A/354B/354D/509/341 of IPC.
A day after the summon took place, the
notable environmentalist claimed that he
is innocent. He termed the chargesheet
content as “allegations leveled by
complainant”, and said, “Court only took
cognizance of ‘allegations’ in chargesheet.
It’s nowhere stated that there is sufficient
evidence against me.” He told to have full
faith in Indian judiciary system.
In another statement, he
also expressed his
dissent over the
complainant as the latter
approached the Delhi
High Court to seek stay
on the proceedings by
the Industrial Tribunal.
He said that the
c o m p l a i n a n t w a s
“resorting to delaying
tactics to keep the
controversy alive.”
As we know, justice
delayed is justice denied;
the same seems to be true in this case
as well. Not surprisingly Pachauri may
take full advantage of his power and
influence in tweaking the case, as the
time ticks on. Amid such tussle, we could
only hope that the former TERI Researcher
gets the judgment in her favor. NEWS
NEWS
Article submitted by Mohammad Atif
Voice in opposition to violence against women
NEWS
NEWS
T
A
Answers:
CALCUTTA,
LEILA
SETH,
CHILD
MARRIAGE,
KULDEEP
SINGH
4. Who was directly appointed as the judge
of Supreme Court?
P
D G
I
3. What Sharda Act deals with?
D
C G
2. Who was the first woman judge to be appointed
chief justice of a High Court in India?
A
L S
R

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R K Pachauri Vs TERI Intern - Did the victim get justice.pdf

  • 1. TM Share your ideas and opinions 15 June 2016 Vol III Issue 3 Rajendra Kumar Pachauri is a renowned climate scientist who holds the distinction of acquiring distinguished posts in the National and International Organizations. He is more revered for his 35 years of association with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) as Director General and later on as Executive Vice Chairman. Moreover, under his supervision as a Chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the organization was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 2007, which adds yet another cap to the impressive professional career of Mr. Pachauri. However, we are not here to talk about his achievements but about a serious issue that may or may not have changed his life, but has certainly jolted the life of a young TERI employee. In February 2015, a 29-year old female employee of TERI accused Pachauri of sexual harassment. She alleged that Pachauri used to harass her and was involved in ‘sexually-laden conversations’ with her through SMS and emails since September 2013. Acting on her complaint, Delhi Police lodged FIR against Pachauri on the charges of sexual harassment under IPC Sections 354, 354(A), 354(D) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Following the allegations, he was compelled to resign from IPCC and TERI. The complainant also approached the Internal Complaints Committee, which found the 75-year old climate scientist guilty of the offences leveled against him. The ICC in its report said that Pachauri’s conduct led to misuse of his position and violation of TERI’s policy on sexual harassment. Pachauri had to go on leave following the allegations but rejoined the office in July 2015 after the Industrial Tribunal stayed actions based on an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) report. Alleging further harassment, the complainant resigned from the organization. In her resignation letter to TERI Human Resource Director Dinesh Verma, she wrote that the organisation treated her in the worst possible manner and harmed her mentally, professionally and economically. In the letter, she stated, “The Council could not even suspend a man pending inquiry and took no action despite the indictment. You also created a hostile environment for me, which has only escalated and showed no signs of subsiding whatsoever. It is becoming clear that the Governing Council works for the DG and under his instructions. There has been no changeover in the DG as well as stated on 23 July 2015. I am tendering my resignation from TERI with immediate effect.” The complainant alleged TERI to have changed her work profile a n d p l a y e d “deaf” to all her requests. Earlier, she also wrote to PM Modi, pleading for his intervention in the case. On February 9, 2016, Pachauri was asked to quit as Director General of TERI. Surprisingly, this event was followed by his promotion as Executive Vice Chairman of TERI’s Governing Council, a designation especially created for him. Two days after her appointment, one of the other former TERI workers raised voice against sexual harassment by Pachauri. The allegations gave strength to the case filed by the first complainant. Ultimately, Delhi Police filed chargesheet against the TERI boss apropos to the FIR lodged by the first complainant, regarding sexual harassment after one year, on March 1, 2016. It cited around 23 prosecution witnesses and hundreds of SMS texts, emails and WhatsApp messages that were communicated between the accused and victim as evidence to support the case. In the same month, on March 30, yet another victim from Europe surfaced with the complaint of sexual harassment against Pachauri, which created more problems for him. Under grave pressure, he was asked to resign from the post of Executive Vice Chairman. In relation to the filing of the chargesheet by Delhi Police, a Delhi court summoned Pachauri for July 11, 2016 as accused for sexually harassing and outraging the modesty of an ex-colleague. In her judgment, Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan stated, “There are allegations against the accused that he made sexually coloured remarks upon the complainant on several occasions.” As adamant as one could seem, Mr. Pachauri had already rubbished all the allegations against him leveled by the 29-year old former TERI researcher. To the contrary, he has filed a defamation case against the lawyer Vrinda Grover worth `1 crore with the allegation that she attempted to prejudice the ongoing sexual harassment case against him. Notably, Grover has brought into public the statements of two women who were former TERI employees and claimed to have been sexually harassed by Pachauri. In a latest development, the main complainant has decided to appeal for a fast track trial in the Delhi High Court. Her lawyer Prashant Mendiratta said that the police has already taken more than a year to file the chargesheet in the sexual harassment case, now she does not want any further delay. Did the complainant get justice? R K Pachauri Sexual Harassment Case In February 2015, a 29-year old female employee of TERI accused Pachauri of sexual harassment. She alleged that Pachauri used to harass her and was involved in ‘sexually-laden conversations’ with her through SMS and emails since September 2013.
  • 2. TM 2 THE GLARING FLAWS IN THE CASE Lapses by Police Delay in filing chargesheet: Our law allows the timeframe of 60 days to file a chargesheet for charges that accompany at least seven years of imprisonment. Failing this deadline entitles the accused to get bail automatically. Like in many other cases, this one also got affected due to delay by Police as it framed chargesheet only on March1, 2016, which was much ahead of the July 2015, deadline set by the court. Overall, it took more than one year for Delhi Police to file the chargesheet after lodging FIR in the first sexual harassment complaint by the TERI employee. In her statement, she leveled charges of stalking, criminal intimidation, assault and sexual harassment against Pachauri. The one year delay helped TERI Chief to influence the evidences and witnesses and regain his position in the organization. Lethargic attitude of Police: A Delhi court denied the request of Delhi Police to put Pachauri in custody, granting him anticipatory bail on March 21, 2015. However, in a latter judgment, the court restricted Pachauri from holding his office. It also instructed the police to complete its investigation into sexual harassment allegations on the climate scientist by July 17, 2015. Unfortunately, the police failed to file the chargesheet by the allotted deadline, make it easier for Pachauri to return to work after leave, with legal sanctions. Mihira Sood, one of the keen followers of the Pachauri case and an Advocate- on-Record at the Supreme Court opines that the court should not have granted anticipatory bail to Pachauri or allowed him to work at TERI yet again. She said, “Legally, it’s not okay that Pachauri was allowed to return to work at TERI, because there wasn’t just the one victim: another has come forward, and there may be others too.” She mentioned, “The court should have kept in mind the rather liberal way in which he’s been issuing threats all of which are grounds to refuse bail. He can silence witnesses or tamper with documentary evidence.” TERI failed miserably in protecting the rights of the complainant The blindfold support for Pachauri emerged as a total failure on the part of TERI, both on moral and legal grounds. After the complainant sought redressal from the ICC committee, TERI’s management must have implemented the recommendations. It should have inquired if the affected wants to file a police complaint or she requires any document from the office to prove her allegations. The management should have also encouraged the witnesses to help the victim. Ironically, nothing of that sort happened. Instead, Pachauri managed to get stay on the ICC report from a court, which was yet another blow to the hope of justice for the former TERI Researcher in the sexual harassment case. The complaints of the two other TERI female workers went unheard: On February 26, 2015, lawyer Vrinda Grover urged Delhi Police to register two cases regarding sexual harassment of women workers in TERI; both the victims being her clients. The police however remained reluctant to register the cases. In an interview to the Huffington Post India, she told that both the female TERI workers approached her in February, 2015, immediately after the FIR was lodged against Pachauri. Since then, she has been persistently asking the Police to record the statement of her clients with no success at all. Done with the Police, Vrinda decided to make the statements of both the female victims public who alleged to have been sexually harassed by the former TERI General Director. In the statement, both referred him as a serial sexual harasser. As can be expected, this move did not go well with Pachauri as he directed his lawyer Ashish Dixit to file the suit against Grover on April 5, in Patiala House Court seeking injunction and `1 Crore in damages. In the petition, Pachauri maintained that there is nothing against him in the official record. The statements released openly in the media have however helped prejudice the ongoing case. The ICC head put papers under mysterious conditions Ranjana Saikia was the head of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at TERI. She found R K Pachauri guilty of sexually harassing and outraging the modesty of the complainant. However, she resigned unexpectedly without citing any reason. After her resignation, TERI reconstituted the committee, which upheld all the allegations on Pachauri and did not act on the recommendations of the previous committee headed by Ms. Saikia. Complete violation of Vishaka Guidelines In 1997, the Supreme Court laid down Vishaka Guidelines to deal with the sexual harassment cases at the workplace. These guidelines were further codified into the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act in 2013. The law states: An organization having more than 10 employees must have an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to deal with the offenses of sexual harassment. The committee must be presided over by a woman. At least half of the committee members must be females. It should have one external member, preferably from an NGO or from a body having familiarity with the cases of sexual harassment. As per legal experts, the introduction of this law witnessed a steep surge in the set up of ICCs in the private firms, resulting into improved compliance. Interestingly, it was only in November 2013 when the Supreme Court came up with its own grievance redressal mechanism for sexual harassment. Coming back to the case, according to the law, the TERI Chief should not be permitted to enter the offer where he has been charged of sexual harassment allegations. However, making a mockery of the law, he was not only allowed to rejoin the office but was also offered a position of power. The Supreme Court lawyer and Human Rights Activist Vrinda Grover termed this act as the clear negligence of the law on the part of TERI. With this, the organization has condoned sexual harassment without exhibiting recourse for the complainant, she said. Indeed, the case demonstrated sheer lack of sincerity in the handling of sexual harassment allegations. Honoring Pachauri Despite allegations on the TERI Chief, he was honored with an especially created designation of Executive Vice Chairman in the organization. The appointment was carried out after a mutual agreement by the Governing Council which included HSBC’s country head Naina Lal Kidwai, former Secretary to the Government of India Shailesh Nayak and HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh. All this happened after the Director General was sacked in July 2015 following the allegations of sexual harassment on Pachauri by his 29-year old female TERI colleague. However, after another female employee of TERI accused R K of sexual harassment in a public statement with the help of Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda Grover, things went awry for him. The Governing Council was compelled to face continuous pressure by the students and alumni at TERI University, in which Pachauri was a Chancellor. The civil society was equally loggerheads with the decision of TERI to escalate Pachauri in the organization. As a result, the council met again on February 12 and declared a new statement. It stated, “Pachauri, who had been at the Head of the Institute since 1982 will be on leave from TERI, TERI Governing Council, and TERI University till this is reviewed by the Governing Council given the subjudice nature of the matter.” Mr. R K Pachauri TERI University Campus
  • 3. TM 3 Pachauri summoned as accused A Delhi court that took cognizance of the chargesheet filed by advocate Prashant Mendiratta on behalf of the first complainant against R K Pachauri, summoned him as accused on May 14, 2016. Reading out the court statement, Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan said “The court is satisfied that there is sufficient material to proceed against accused R K Pachauri under Sections 354-A, 354- B, 354-D, 509 and 341 of IPC. Cognizance taken accordingly Let the accused be summoned for the next date i.e. July 11.” The summon was moved in connection with the 1400+ page chargesheet filed by Delhi Police in the court against the former TERI Chief on March 1, 2016. It comprised the statement of the complainant to the police where she accused Pachauri of calling her into his room where he hugged her tightly from her back after closing the door. “I elbowed Pachauri in the ribs to escape out of his embrace and pushed him back,” she said in the statement. She further stated in the chargesheet, “During a trip to Pakistan, Pachauri tried to hug her. In his room, he went down on his knees and said ‘main pyaar maang raha hoon (I am seeking love)’. When I started leaving, he opened the door for me and tried to hug me. I pushed him with my elbows and went to my room.” The chargesheet contained statements of 23 prosecution witnesses, a bulk of whom are the current and former TERI employees. Reacting on the chargesheet, the Metropolitan Magistrate said, “Chargesheet perused. Heard. There are allegations against the accused that he made sexually coloured remarks upon the complainant on several occasions. He touched the complainant inappropriately despite a clear expression of disapproval from her side. He sent inappropriate SMSes and WhatsApp messages to the complainant.” Notably, the chargesheet was filed in relation to the FIR lodged by Delhi Police in February 2015 against Pachauri on the charges of sexual harassment. He was booked under IPC Sections 354, 354(A), 354(D) (molestation) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Delhi High Court refused to stay the proceedings before an Industrial Tribunal On May 18, The Delhi High Court did not approve of the stay to the proceedings before an Industrial Tribunal, which is hearing the plea of R K Pachauri against the findings of TERI’s ICC against in the sexual harassment case. In a decision given by the bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath, the court said, “It cannot give any interim order at the fag end of the hearing before the Tribunal where the matter is to be taken up on May 19.” It added, “Now at the fag end, you (former TERI employee, who filed complaint against Mr. Pachauri before the committee) are coming and pressing for the interim order which cannot be granted at this stage.” The order came during the hearing of a plea by the former TERI Researcher. She had alleged that TERI failed to act on 75- year old Pachauri as per the ICC recommendations in relation to her sexual harassment complaint. Earlier, on March 4, 2014, the High Court had also dismissed the complainant’s plea to cancel the anticipatory bail to Pachauri, granted by a trial court. IMPORTANT JUDGMENT Amit Mohaan Meharia BA. LLB. (Hons.) King’s College, London, Solicitor (Supreme Court of England and Wales) Moonmoon Karmakar MA (English), Calcutta University, PGDBA(HR) Teesta Haldar Teacher BA (Calcutta University), MA (JNU) Samita Das MA (English), Presidency University Nilotpal Sen Director, Ebong Advertising Solutions PGD in Mass Communication (Jadavpur University) Editor’s Note Get your voice heard at TM . We shall bring your views to light. Write to us at speakup@researchatsashwaat.com The case of TERI Researcher concerning sexual harassment by her senior colleague is just another of the hundreds, perhaps thousands of such incidents happening in India and around the world. Those who are able to muster enough courage come forward and raise voice against their sinners. Unfortunately, many victims still prefer to maintain silence and bear the agony. In the current scenario where world’s leading nations and institutions are being headed by fairer sex, such type of sexual discrimination is piercing. The need is therefore to accumulate the strength from deep within to lock horns with the evildoers and bring them to book. In August 2015, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi revealed a staggering fact in the Parliament. In her speech, she said that alone in 2014, 526 cases of sexual harassment on women took place during work. Out of these, 57 cases happened at office premises and 469 cases were reported at other places related to work. According to the data gathered by National Commission for Women till 2014, the incidences of sexual harassment at workplace have increased heavily in the past few years, with 2014 being the peak of such cases. Talking about the figures, the cases of this nature registered in 2011 were 170, which dipped to 167 in 2012. In 2013, the complaints of sexual harassment at work again soared to 249 cases while in 2014 alone, total 526 cases were registered; more than double as compared to 2013. The findings are indeed shocking, saddening, baffling and agitating. The rise in these incidences don’t come as a surprise considering the fact that around 35% of the companies surveyed by NCW had no clue of the penal consequences for non-compliance when constituting their Internal Complaints Committees. As per the report, the global companies at 38% were even more ignorant about the non-compliance of the committees. Even more striking fact was that, near about 44% of the respondent companies do not make aware their employees of the penal consequences of sexual harassment at work. These are the findings from only few respondents, the picture is even worse at the broader perspective. The sexual harassment cases against Tarun Tejpal, Ashok Ganguly, Gopal Kanda and more, are just the few to take place in the wake of such non-compliances. Moving over, most of the cases go unregistered because of the pressure from the higher management within the organizations; the same happened in the Pachauri case as well. Despite the TERI ICC report finding him guilty of sexual harassment, the complainant was excessively pressurized to withdraw her allegation. In an open letter, she revealed that many of her colleagues were asked to convince her to withdraw the complaint. Ultimately, she quit under monumental pressure from all round. As a silverlining, she did manage to file FIR against the wrongdoer and appeal High Court to speed up the proceedings. Encouraged by her efforts and seeing the undue favors to R K Pachauri in TERI, two more women also came to the fore with similar stories of sexual harassment by the TERI Chief. This has smoldered her case appreciably and most probably, would help her get positive judgment. However, many stories still remain unfolded within the organization. We have high hopes that all the TERI employees who have been exploited sometimes or the other by their colleagues or the TERI boss would come forward help the complainant get justice. Ultimately, it will be a victory not only for the first complainant but also for the entire female fraternity that has been harassed and exploited at work just because of their gender. Board of Advisors
  • 4. TM 4 Published by Amit Meharia Designed by Ebong Advertising Solutions Pvt Ltd., 201 Jodhpur Gardens, Kolkata 700 045 Owned by Sashwaat Society of Education & Research Place of Publication 9, Old Post Office Street, 2nd floor, Kolkata 700 001 The Registrar of Newspaper Authority of India, Registration No: 126443/2013 An initiative by GameZone Finish the words Tehelka, the sensational news magazine keeps on hitting the headlines owing to its much talked about sting operations and investigative journalisms. Founded by Tarun Tejpal and Aniruddha Bahal, it is best known for its role in digging out cricket match fixing scandal in 2000, followed by Operation West End in 2001 and so on. Ironically, Tejpal himself was compelled to bear the brunt of media criticism and public scrutiny due to the sexual allegations leveled against him in November 2013. Tejpal was accused of raping one of her junior colleagues during ThinkFest, a high profile conference that was organized by the Tehelka magazine founder himself. The incident took place on November 7, 2013 at a starred hotel in North Goa. The victim who is at present working on a research assignment claimed that she has been sexually assaulted in the hotel elevator by a person who was a friend and a father figure for her. On her complaint, Goa Police registered a suo moto FIR against Tarun Tejpal on November 22. He was booked under Sections 354, 354-A (sexual harassment), 341 and 342 (wrongful restrain), 376 (rape), 376(2)(F) and 376 (2)(K) (takes advantage of his official position and commits rape in his custody). Later on, he was arrested on November 30, 2013 after the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea. The Goa Crime Branch filed a long chargesheet of over 2,800 pages against Tehelka founder. It stated, “There is sufficient evidence available in the form of documents, statements and electronic records, on record, to prove that on November 7, 2013, the victim was raped, sexually harassed, and her modesty outraged inside an elevator... by her own employer Tarun Tejpal.” The court found him guilty and sentenced more than seven years of imprisonment. But that was not the happy ending for the young victim, since she still awaits complete justice. Tejpal filed for interim bail to attend his mother’s cremation, following which he was released on May 19, 2014. Since then, he has been roaming free and the case is still pending in the court. The reputed journalist is however still adamant and has denied sexually assaulting his female co-worker. He says, “I have not admitted to rape, it was consensual and I have apologised for that. I have not admitted, not admitted to rape.” His initial response to the allegations was also very casual and drew huge criticism. In an email to Tehelka Management, he wrote that there had been an “unfortunate incident” between him and the victim, describing it as “a bad lapse of judgment.” Tejpal also accused the investigators of not handling over him the relevant documents and materials related to the case to prepare for his defence. In addition, he demanded a “cloned copy” of the data on his phone and laptop that was taken under custody by the police. In connection with his appeal, the Supreme Court in May 2015, allowed a Goa judge one more year to fulfill the formalities of data handover and begin the trial. However, the Goa Crime Branch is still clueless on starting the proceeding anytime soon. Moreover, with 155 witnesses waiting for their turn to depose, there are high chances for the case to drag on to the third year or even more. While the trial court is yet to navigate though the pool of sentiments and arguments, the million dollar question is whether the victim will get the justice at all, and if yes, then when? R K Pachauri summoned as accused in sexual harassment case Former TERI Chief R K Pachauri was summoned as accused by a Delhi court which took cognizance of a chargesheet filed against him for allegedly sexually harassing and outraging the modesty of an ex-colleague. “The court is satisfied that there is sufficient material to proceed against accused R K Pachauri under Sections 354-A, 354-B, 354-D, 509 and 341 of IPC. Cognizance taken accordingly ... Let the accused be summoned for the next date i.e. July 11.” Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan said. TERI Sexual Harassment Case: R K Pachauri's Defence Will Drop The Claim That His Devices Were Hacked More than a year after a case of sexual harassment was filed against former TERI Head R K Pachauri, his defence is moving away from the earlier claim that his devices were hacked. His lawyer now says that the climate scientist’s computer and email was probably not hacked, but misused by those who knew his passwords. He claimed that they thought it was hacked initially, but he had said his accounts were misused even in his reply to the Climate Think-Tank’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in March last year, less than a month after the police complaint against him. R K Pachauri Says He Left TERI Of His Own Accord, To Pursue Opportunities Abroad R K Pachauri, the former chief of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) who is facing serious sexual harassment allegations from a junior colleague, told Huffington Post India that he voluntarily decided to end his association with the Climate Think Tank, which he has headed for over 35 years. “I felt that it was time for me to move away and get engaged in other interests which I have harboured over the past few years for activities at the global level,” he said in a statement. TERI Governing Council Severs Ties With R K Pachauri The Governing Council of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has decided to sever its ties with the organization’s former chief R K Pachauri, according to reports. His term as a member of the GC ended in March, according to TERI officials, and it has not been extended, leading to a premature termination of his employment contract with TERI as well, which expired only in 2017. He headed TERI for 35 years. 1. Where the oldest High Court in India is located? CURRENT SCENARIO As of now, the complainant is still wondering if she will ever get justice and see Pachauri behind the bars. She also awaits TERI to recall her with due dignity and apologize for the misconduct done on her owing to the intense pressure from Pachauri. Recently, she has planned to move the Delhi High Court to demand a fast track trial to avoid any further delay in the case. Earlier, in May 2016, a Delhi court summoned R K Pachauri as accused in the sexual harassment case leveled against him by the complainant, who was one of Pachauri’s junior colleagues. The court has asked to put the 75-year old former TERI Chief to trial under Sections- 354/354A/354B/354D/509/341 of IPC. A day after the summon took place, the notable environmentalist claimed that he is innocent. He termed the chargesheet content as “allegations leveled by complainant”, and said, “Court only took cognizance of ‘allegations’ in chargesheet. It’s nowhere stated that there is sufficient evidence against me.” He told to have full faith in Indian judiciary system. In another statement, he also expressed his dissent over the complainant as the latter approached the Delhi High Court to seek stay on the proceedings by the Industrial Tribunal. He said that the c o m p l a i n a n t w a s “resorting to delaying tactics to keep the controversy alive.” As we know, justice delayed is justice denied; the same seems to be true in this case as well. Not surprisingly Pachauri may take full advantage of his power and influence in tweaking the case, as the time ticks on. Amid such tussle, we could only hope that the former TERI Researcher gets the judgment in her favor. NEWS NEWS Article submitted by Mohammad Atif Voice in opposition to violence against women NEWS NEWS T A Answers: CALCUTTA, LEILA SETH, CHILD MARRIAGE, KULDEEP SINGH 4. Who was directly appointed as the judge of Supreme Court? P D G I 3. What Sharda Act deals with? D C G 2. Who was the first woman judge to be appointed chief justice of a High Court in India? A L S R