Is the former chairman of the IPCC genuinely ill – or is this a ‘strategic move’ on the part of his legal team to forestall his arrest?

click to watch video at the Times of India website

The Indian press is reporting that Rajendra Pachauri, who resigned yesterday as chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has been admitted to hospital.

On Monday, when a New Delhi court granted Pachauri protection from arrest until tomorrow, his lawyers told the court their client was ill. A Times of India news story quotes Sidharth Luthra:

We have submitted all the medical records regarding his illness which include cardiac issues and UTI [urinary tract infection].

Pachauri had expected to be in Kenya this week, presiding over an IPCC meeting. When the IPCC announced that he wouldn’t be attending that four-day Nairobi meeting, no mention was made of medical problems. Nor did Pachauri reference his health in his gloriously self-absorbed, 2-page resignation letter dated yesterday.

According to a televised news account, Pachauri has been admitted to hospital for unknown reasons. A woman interviewed in the above news segment observes that his hospital admission amounts to a “good strategic move by Pachauri and his defense counsel” since he is “facing imminent danger” of arrest following a police complaint involving allegations of assault, harassment, stalking, and threats.

The commentator also admits – as should we all – that it’s possible the strain of the past few weeks has taken a toll on the 74-year-old’s well-being. Click here to view the 90-second video.

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see also:

• An Open Letter to the Men of TERI (Mar. 11)
• Pachauri Talks Ethics in Gender Justice Book (Mar. 9)
• Rajendra Pachauri & International Women’s Day (Mar. 6)
• Pachauri’s Sofa (Mar. 2)
• Mumbai Columnist: ‘Creepy Crawlie’ Pachauri (Feb. 28)
• Pachauri’s Incredible Shrinking Footprint (Feb. 26)
• Pachauri Admitted to Hospital (Feb. 25)
• Rajendra Pachauri’s Resignation Letter (Feb. 24)
• Woman #2’s Story (Feb. 23)
• More Women Accuse Pachauri (Feb. 22)
• Chairman Pachauri’s Messy Messages (Feb. 21)
• Indian Court Rejects Pachauri Publication Ban (Feb. 20)
• Police Ponder Pachauri Assault & Stalking Charges (Feb. 19)
• Sex Allegations Against IPCC’s Pachauri (Feb. 18)

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Donna Laframboise is a Canadian investigative journalist and author of the 2013 book, Into the Dustbin: Rajendra Pachauri, the Climate Report & the Nobel Peace Prize. See Amazon.com, Amazon India, and other Amazon stores.

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