MUMBAI: With it becoming ever clearer that Rahul Johri is operating as Vinod Rai’s, NOT the Committee of Administrators’, point man in the BCCI, it should come as no surpise that the CoA chairman is citing the rule book in the way he is approaching the sexual harassment charges that the BCCI CEO is facing.
But even as the CoA released a statement about the constitution of an independent commission to investigate the charges laid against Johri, and placed on record the strong “dissenting note” from “junior” CoA member Diana Edulji, came two developments which served only to further muddy the negative optics that this case has already generated for Rai.
First, came the announcement that Karina Kripalani, head of the Indian cricket board’s Internal Complaints Committee responsible to resolve cases of alleged harassment against women at the workplace, had resigned from her position.
That Kripalani’s resignation came just a day after the CoA’s statement is being seen as correlated, despite the good lady’s assertions that she was resigning for “personal reasons” and that she had been “planning this for a long time”.
But even more damning were the fresh allegations that surfaced via the Twitter feed of former Mumbai captain Shishir Hattangadi, who tweeted: “If the @BCCI want information about @Rjohri on #metoo I am happy to assist them. I am putting my hand up as a former captain!
“Somebody close to me, a friend, called and asked me for my advice. She said she was harassed by Johri. It’s her prerogative to disclose the details of it. I told her to write to CoA so that the concerned people can probe and question. I am not prepared to divulge what type of sexual harassment; that’s upto the person to disclose.
“I am sure she must have written to CoA by now. If they (CoA) deny then that’s their prerogative. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
Hattangadi’s tweet followed a report on CNN News 18 claiming that a woman had alleged that Johri had asked for sexual favours earlier this year.
The report claims that the woman had sent her complaint to a Edulji and also approached Hattangadi, who is a friend.
“This is a part of Me too movement,” Hattangadi told CNN-News18. “There have been murmurs against the behaviour of Rahul Johri, I personally haven’t met or interacted with him. I was asked for advice by a lady who is a friend of mine, I advised her to speak to the members of CoA and write a letter to them. I respect the person who confided in me and will not reveal her name but I feel she has a very good reason to file a complaint.
“The letter describes what happened in the situation. It’s a detailed description about the pressure she faced, now it’s up to the committee to decide the course of action. He’s (Johri) using his position and I feel it’s time for the CoA to take the tough decision.”
For the record, the BCCI had set up the complaints committee in April with Kripalani as its chairman and general manager operations Saba Karim, Rupawati Rao, who works at BCCI’s accounts department and an external member Veena Gowda, a Mumbai-based women rights lawyer, as its members. The BCCI had formed the committee in line with the Sexual Harassment against Women at Workplace Act 2013 (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), which states that companies should have an internal committee that deals with any atrocities against women, Indian Express reports. The tenure of the panel was for a year.
Further damning news (if proved true of course) are comments made by an unnamed BCCI official to Indian Express wherein he states: “Despite sending him (Johri) on leave, he is still working from home. There were decisions taken in the recent past without taking approval from both (read Edulji not consulted) CoA members. In fact, Rai seems to be the final word.”
As already reported, the three-member panel that is investigating the charges against Johri consists of Justice Rakesh Sharma, a former judge in the Allahabad High Court, Barkha Singh, former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women and PC Sharma, former CBI director.
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