Delhi court okays RK Pachauri's visit abroad

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday accorded permission to environmentalist RK Pachauri, accused in a sexual harassment case, to travel abroad to attend an international meeting, a workshop and conferences.

Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan allowed Pachauri to travel to La Paz in Bolivia, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Paris in France and asked him to furnish a local surety of Rs 4 lakh.

The court also asked him to furnish an undertaking that he would make himself available to the investigating officer as per requirement.

The court ordered Pachauri to file a copy of his travel tickets and to inform the court and police after returning in India.

Pachauri's counsel Ashish Dixit told the court that his client had to attend a meeting at La Paz from November 26 to 27.

He had also been invited to attend a workshop at Riyadh on December 2 and various conferences in Paris from December 4 to December 9, the counsel informed the court. 

After a woman employee of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) filed a sexual harassment complaint, Pachauri denied the charge but stepped down as chairperson of UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February and proceeded on leave from TERI where he was its director general.

Later, Pachauri was ousted as TERI head in July and Ajay Mathur appointed in his place.

In early November, the woman researcher who accused him of sexual harassment, quit her job at TERI, alleging she was treated badly. TERI denied the charge.

Citing several SMSes, emails and WhatsApp messages, the woman said Pachauri sexually harassed her soon after she joined TERI in September 2013. She filed a complaint in February 2014.

Pachauri was granted anticipatory bail on March 21, but was ordered not to leave the country without court permission.