MTNL's Sinha resigns as CMD

In a surprise development, telecom PSU MTNL's chairman and managing director R S P Sinha has resigned from the post.

"Yes, I have put in my papers," Sinha told PTI but did not speak about the reasons for stepping down. Sinha was on an ad-hoc extension after completing his five-year tenure in September last year.

However, he is 18 months away from superannuation. The resignation comes amid a debate over the falling revenues and financial performance of the corporation which is also engaged in a legal battle for buying equipments from Motorola 10 years ago.

At the time of the signing of the equipment contract, Sinha was Director (Finance) with MTNL, which has operations in Delhi and Mumbai.

According to sources, Sinha who went to attend MTNL's Board meeting on Monday received a call from Telecom Secretary P J Thomas asking him to step down, and then he left the venue even before the meeting started.