RK Pachauri not given promotion at TERI, rather has been demoted: Lawyer

RK Pachauri was on Monday appointed executive vice chairman of TERI.

New Delhi: RK Pachauri's lawyer on Tuesday said his client, who is facing sexual harassment charges, has been demoted and the post of executive vice chairman was in existence since the inception of The Energy and Resources Institute​ (TERI).

Lawyer Ashish Dixit ​rubbished the reports about Pachauri's elevation at TERI, saying that the allegation that his client has been promoted are false, adding that it was a demotion.

The lawyer's reaction comes after, Pachauri was on Monday appointed executive vice chairman of the green body after new Director General Ajay Mathur took over the charge from him.

It was reported that the post of executive vice chairman has been recently created and Pachauri will be the first to hold the post. Mathur is a former Director General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, an institution under the Power Ministry.

In February last year, a junior colleague had accused him of sexual harassment following which he had to proceed on leave but joined work in July with a court quashing the internal committee report that found him guilty of misconduct.

He was removed as chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, an international body of scientists that makes periodic assessment of climate change science, as well.