Facing allegations of sexual harassment, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri was on Sunday forced to pull out of an upcoming ICC meeting in Singapore after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) turned down his request for more time to explain the charges levied against him. While BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary will represent the board at the meeting scheduled in Singapore from October-16-19, senior board officials feel that immediate action is a must in such situations.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, a senior board official said that while it is a step in the positive direction that the CoA refused to hand Johri further time to provide an explanation against the allegation of sexual harassment, the BCCI CEO should have ideally been suspended pending enquiry.
“If an Indian cricketer’s central contract was put on hold pending enquiry because of allegations which amounted to adultery and domestic violence, the same protocol should have seen the CEO being asked to stay away from the board office till he submits his explanation and the matter is closed,” he said.
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“The fact that Johri is essentially responsible for almost everything in the organisation and sits on the top of the pyramid in the organisation chart and that includes dealings with the women cricketers and women employees, it is inconceivable why he has not been suspended pending enquiry, since the allegations against him are not of harassment but of rape.”
Speaking on the matter, CoA chief Vinod Rai said: “Rahul had sought 14 days for a detailed explanation as he said that he is working with his legal team and since he was also to attend ICC meeting from October 16-19 in Singapore,” Rai said. “But I clearly told Rahul that I cannot let this issue simmer for 14 days as the BCCI office will be affected by it. Since he wants to sit with his lawyers now, I allowed him exemption from ICC meeting.”
The BCCI secretary is already there in Singapore. In fact, the convention has been for BCCI secretaries to attend ICC meetings before the CEO’s post came into existence.
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The allegations against Johri have been made by an unnamed person, who claimed to be his colleague during his stint at the Discovery Channel. The anonymous account was posted on Twitter by an author, Harnidh Kaur, who later stated that she did not want the charges published nor her name used in the context.
Johri, who has so far not reacted to the charge, worked in various positions with the Discovery channel from 2001 to 2016 before taking over as the BCCI CEO. Believed to be in his late 40s, he became the first CEO of the cricket body after its administrative structure underwent a revamp owing to the Lodha Committee recommendations. A media veteran before joining the BCCI, Johri was associated with the Discovery channel’s South Asia operations for 15 years.
First Published: Oct 15, 2018 08:36 IST
Source: HindustanTimes