Bangalore, July 23 (PTI): R.K. Pachauri, who is facing sexual harassment charges, was today removed as the director-general of Teri, the non-profit research organisation working in the fields of energy and environment.

Ajay Mathur, till now the director-general of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), has been appointed as the new director-general in a decision taken at the governing council meeting of Teri here.

"The governing council of Teri at its meeting held in Bangalore took a decision to appoint Ajay Mathur as the director-general of Teri. Mathur will take up his new responsibilities as soon as he is in a position to do so, subsequent to being relieved from his current responsibilities by the Government of India after a brief period of transition," an official release said.

On February 13 this year, an FIR was registered against the 74-year-old Pachauri after charges of sexual harassment were levelled by a senior Teri employee. A Delhi court had granted anticipatory bail to Pachauri.

On February 26, the court had restrained Pachauri from entering Teri office premises and contacting its officials. It had asked him not to leave the country and also granted him interim protection from arrest till March 27.

Pachauri was later allowed by a Delhi court to enter his office premises except the head office and a branch in Gurgaon.

The Teri statement said the general council also considered the question of any action that could be taken on the report of its internal complaints committee on the issue of alleged sexual harassment.

"Action on this report has been stayed by the court, which ruled 'the operation of the report of the internal complaints committee shall remain stayed. This judgment of May 29, 2015, also stated 'the principles of natural justice have not been followed at all by the said committee, contrary to rules'. The general council of Teri respects all court proceedings and abides by its direction," the statement said.

The council observed that the issue of succession to the current leadership of Teri was first discussed in detail in Mumbai in September 2014. Subsequently, a well-known search firm was entrusted with the task of carrying out a search of candidates for the position, which they performed pro bono and provided the council with a slate of candidates short listed by them.

"The decision to appoint Ajay Mathur is, therefore, the culmination of an extensive search process and an intensive evaluation of candidates from across the globe," the statement said.

Pachauri was the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world's leading intergovernmental organisation for the assessment of climate change. He was elected as the Chairman in 2002 and re-elected by acclamation in 2008, and served till February 2015. He served the organisation on a voluntary basis. The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice-President Al Gore, who had earlier criticised Pachauri when he was first elected in 2002.