NEW DELHI: A city court on Saturday allowed TERI director general R K Pachauri, who is facing sexual harassment allegations from a junior woman colleague, to travel to the US to attend the last rites of his brother-in-law.
Metropolitan Magistrate Shivani Chauhan, while allowing Pachauri to go abroad from June 29-July 9, directed him to inform the Indian Embassy in Washington about his arrival there and provide updates on his travel plans by submitting the itinerary and photocopy of the air ticket and his passport before the court.
The Magistrate also directed Pachauri to inform the court and the Investigating Officer about his return to India on July 9. The court also directed Pachauri not to visit any other country and to deposit two sureties of `2 lakh each. Advocate Ashish Dixit, appearing for Pachauri, said his client had been cooperating with the police and that he had filed the plea only after two rounds of questioning was done by them. Police objected to his plea saying Pachauri was trying to evade further interrogation in the case.
On this, Dixit submitted documents relating to the death of Pachauri’s brother-in-law. The police also informed the court that Pachauri will be interrogated on Sunday. He was interrogated for over three hours on June 24 as well.
The victim’s counsel also opposed the plea claiming that there was the likelihood of him trying to escape to other countries.