Scientist RK Pachauri has been appointed to the post of executive vice chairman at The Energy and Resources Institute, even though his name has not been cleared in a sexual harassment case filed by a former employee at the green body. Pachauri took charge in the newly created position after stepping down as the Director General of TERI. He will be replaced by Ajay Mathur.

In February last year, a junior colleague had accused Pachauri of sexual harassment, but she quit the organisation several months later saying she had been “mistreated in the worst possible manner”. She had said the institute favoured the senior scientist and created a hostile environment for her. An internal committee had found him guilty of harassment. The organisation's apparent moves to protect Pachauri had led to widespread outrage. Pachauri was subsequently removed as the chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, an international body.