Karuna Nundy on what RK Pachauri sexual harassment case means for women

Following the ouster of RK Pachauri from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) as well as United Nations climate panel in the wake of a sexual harassment case filed against him, India Today caught up with Supreme Court advocate Karuna Nundy for her assessment of the case and its impact on working women. Excerpts:

Q. Has the legal process been followed in the sexual harassment case filed against RK Pachauri?

A. The legal process hasn't been entirely positive.

The criminal case against Pachauri for sexual assault and harassment is progressing but the court has allowed him to go back to TERI. Luckily, the governing council of TERI finally replaced him. There's also a case before an industrial tribunal in which the findings of the internal complaints committee are being considered.

It's crystal clear that Pachauri should not have been allowed to continue as the head of TERI. You can't allow someone to remain the head of an organisation when there's a highly credible criminal complaint against them, and when many other women have also complained.

He should have been asked to find another job, or just go home.

The decision of the governing council to appoint someone else as the head of TERI is welcome, but they really should have taken a stand on the harassment allegations - there are so many women affected. There are times when decision makers become paralysed when very important people are involved in criminal activities.

Q. How does the decision of TERI governing council impact the institution and working women at large?

A. Pachauri was the head of one of the most prominent bodies in the world - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - and was asked to step down like he did from his role at TERI. The issue has now become public.

Procedural justice has been delayed and that may have compromised evidence in the case. For the complainant, it must have been hard to have Pachauri in and out as her ultimate boss and being forced to move because of that.

In spite of serious flaws in the way the case was handled, it sends out a clear message that a credible complainant will get a lot of support from people and institutions in standing up against a very powerful person.

Q. What should be the future course of action?

A. There needs to be a civil remedy that's entirely separate from the criminal remedy. There are some working women who don't want to go through the hard criminal procedure involving sexually coloured remarks.

We need excellent legal aid and lawyers trained in gender justice, to take up the cases of women who want to report sexual harassment or assault.

At the moment, internal complaints committees are biased in the favour of the more powerful person in an organisation and the organisation itself. Major failures by the organisation can make it liable for litigation. Often the independent member is a person friendly to the organisation, and just not independent enough or powerful enough to sway the internal complaints committees.

These conflicts of interest must be resolved.