By NewsGram Staff Writer

NEW DELHI: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has resigned from the governing council of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). She cited "moral responsibility" as the reason for her resignation.

The governing council in TERI has been criticized for months for remaining largely silent about the harassment charges. Dr RK Pachauri, who is facing charges of sexual harassment at workplace, was recently removed from the post by the governing council and Dr Ajay Mathur was chosen as his successor.

The functioning of the governing council was questioned by the 29-year-old research analyst who has accused Pachauri of sexually harassing her, stalking and intimidating her.

Referring to the ongoing case against Pachauri, Mazumdar said she "refused to be dragged in an extremely contentious issue". She submitted that since she has never remained an "active member" of the governing council, it was her "moral responsibility" to not opine on an issue which she is not totally conversant with.

The IIM-Bangalore chairperson is considered as one of the most powerful women in the world, featuring on the Financial Times' top 50 women in business list and was last year listed as the 92nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, the complainant in the case has hit out at the TERI governing council for "their scary silence and inaction on this issue", claiming that a press statement to appoint a new DG in Dr Pachauri's place was merely a "white wash".