File photo of former IPCC chairman RK Pachauri
Following allegations of sexual harassment, Rajendra K Pachauri, one of the world's top climate change officials, has resigned from the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change.
"The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted the resignation of Dr RK Pachauri from the PM's Council on Climate Change," a statement by the PMO said.
Dr Pachauri was a member of the Council since its inception in 2007 during the tenure of Manmohan Singh. PM Modi had re-nominated him to the Council last year.
75-year-old Dr Pachauri has been accused of sexual harassment by a 29-year-old researcher with his Delhi-based think tank The Energy Resources Institute (TERI).
The woman complainant claims the scientist began harassing her soon after she joined the non-profit think-tank in September 2013. She has submitted hundreds of text and WhatsApp messages that she say prove how she was sexually harassed.
Dr Pachauri has denied the charges and alleges that he is a victim of computer and phone hacking. The researcher has formally recorded her statement before the magistrate. The woman, who is still an employee of TERI, is on a two months leave.
On Tuesday, Dr Pachauri quit as chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) days after the FIR or police complaint was filed against him. In 2007, Dr Pachauri received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, which shared the honour with former US Vice President Al Gore for their part in galvanising international action against climate change.