Uninor will get new chairman says Unitech

A Unitech-appointed director will take over as chairman of its Indian telecom joint venture with Norway's Telenor in place of Sanjay Chandra , the real estate company said on Monday.

Last week, an Indian court rejected bail applications of five executives, including Chandra, in relation to police charges against them in a telecoms licensing scandal.

Telenor said last week it had requested that Chandra step down from his post following the charges and had asked Unitech to name a replacement as long as the case was pending.

Unitech said on Monday that Chandra has not resigned but had already requested the Uninor board to appoint an alternate director in his place to handle company affairs in the near term.

"We will continue to monitor the situation closely and review our decision should the need arise," Unitech said in a statement.

The company also said it continued to believe in Chandra's innocence and believed his name will be cleared of all charges in due course.

A Uninor spokesman was unavailable for comment.