NEW DELHI: Former UN climate panel chief Rajendra Pachauri said on Thursday that he quit his Indian think-tank to pursue other interests, at a time when he is facing allegations of sexual harassment.

The 75-year-old faces several police charges including sexual harassment, after a female employee at his New Delhi-based Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) filed a complaint last year accusing him of sending inappropriate texts and e-mails.

Pachauri announced late Thursday that his term had ended last month at TERI, which he had been heading for more than three decades.

“My term as a Member of the Governing Council ended on March 31, 2016,” Pachauri said in a statement sent to AFP by his lawyer Ashish Dixit.

“I felt that it was time for me to move away and get engaged in other interests which I have harbored over the past few years for activities at the global level,” he added.