Pachauri sacked as TERI chief

Tribune News Service

Bengaluru, July 23

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) today removed its Director General Rajendra Kumar Pachauri from his post.

Pachauri, a noted environmentalist who was chairman of the UN body Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change when it was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2007, is facing a case of sexual harassment against a junior woman colleague.

The TERI governing council, which met in Bengaluru today, also appointed Ajay Mathur, currently Director General of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Government of India, as Pachauri’s successor. Mathur will take up his new responsibility as soon as he is relieved by the Centre.

Pachauri’s removal was first discussed in detail by the TERI council at its meeting held in Mumbai in September 2014. “The decision to appoint Ajay Mathur is culmination of an extensive search process and an intensive evaluation of candidates from across the globe,” a statement by TERI posted on its website said.

TERI acknowledged Pachauri’s contribution in building the organisation. “Pachauri has led and built TERI over the last 34 years from a concept to a major, financially autonomous, professionally dynamic organisation on the global stage”, the statement said.

The council, according to the statement, considered the question of acting on the report of the Internal Complaints Committee at TERI on the sexual harassment charge levelled against Pachauri. But it decided to refrain from taking any action against its 75-year-old former Director General in view of a court order staying the operation of the report.

Mathur, a BE from Roorkee, has done his PhD and Master of Science from University of Illinois. He held various prestigious positions, including a stint with the World Bank.

Pachauri stepped down as chairman of the IPCC in February in the wake of the sexual harassment charge against him and proceeded on leave from TERI as its director general earlier this month.