A charge-sheet was filed on Tuesday under the Nirbhaya Act against TERI executive vice-chairman R K Pachauri, who is facing sexual harassment allegations by a former female colleague. The charge-sheet consists over 1,400 pages, has accounts of around 23 witnesses including present and former employees of TERI and has accused Pachauri of outraging the modesty of a woman, stalking, and criminal intimidation. The document also contains copies of 6,000 text and WhatsApp messages exchanged between him and the victim.
Despite this, there have been no arrests yet and noticeably, from creating a special post of executive vice-chairman to allowing him to tour the world and upholding him at the helm of affairs, nothing has changed for the TERI chief. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to mention that the mess at TERI highlights the inherent flaws of a nascent law that has in several high profile instances failed to deliver justice.
At a brief meeting, the governing council of TERI decided to send Pachauri on a leave but let him continue in the post in the face of new allegations that surfaced.
Pachauri’s new appointment flouts the spirit of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, based on the Vishaka judgment of the Supreme Court in 1997. Even former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha had said in the past that it was not proper to promote a person facing criminal investigation till the charges were cleared.
Instead of coming up with what could have proved to be an appropriate test case for the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013, the court observations have reduced the issue to a brazen disregard for the norms of public righteousness and decency. Time and again, the TERI chief has been allowed to travel abroad — at times to attend wedding functions of his relatives, for global summits (he was in Greece from April 26 to 29, 2015) and in June, 2015, he even travelled to the US to attend the last rites of his brother-in-law. TERI governing body even decided to send him on a “paid leave” against demands for his removal or suspension. There was no disciplinary action taken against him and bail was granted to him despite the victim’s lawyer’s repeated pleas that he would influence witnesses and tamper with evidence, thus seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail to Pachauri, saying he was misusing the liberty of bail.
During the hearing, the Investigating Officer (IO) also opposed Pachauri’s plea saying he has been examined four times but there was no cooperation from him in the investigation. He also stated that if Pachauri was allowed to enter the office, he could influence witnesses.
In light of this, we would like to believe that now the law would take its own course as undoubtedly, an individual cannot be bigger than the institution, as pointed out by Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who resigned as a member of the governing council in September, 2015, citing “moral responsibility”.