#MeToo allegation: Diana Edulji rejects clean chit to BCCI CEO Johri

The rift between the two-member Committee of Administrators is out in the open again. After the three-member independent committee probing sexual harassment charges against BCCI CEO Rahul Johri submitted its report to the CoA and delivered a clean chit to him, the CoA issued a statement this evening stating Johri could resume office.

The committee, comprising Justice (Retd) Rakesh Sharma, former Delhi Commission of Women chairperson Barkha Singh and lawyer-activist Veena Gowda, ruled in favour of Johri. Gowda was the only one who took note of Johri's "unprofessional" conduct on one occasion and advised gender sensitivity counselling for him.

However, CoA member Edulji, on her part, did not agree with the clean chit given to Johri, who was cleared of any wrongdoing. The committee ruled that the allegations were "fabricated".

Even as the marathon meeting between Edulji and CoA chairman Vinod Rai was on and the official statement was being drafted, Johri arrived at the BCCI head office and, reportedly, took charge.

Edulji is expected to go through the entire report and consult amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium soon. The matter is set to be heard in the Supreme Court on November 27 as of now.

Reportedly, Edulji is unconvinced that Rai can overrule her as chairman of the CoA, which is basically down to two members, as he does not have a casting vote and is only first amongst equals. Since the decision of the CoA is also split, Johri should not have been allowed to rejoin immediately.

While acknowledging that the duo differed over the outcome of the report, the CoA said in its conclusion, “Since there is no consensus between the two members of the Committee of Administrators regarding what action should be taken against Mr. Rahul Johri, the Chairman stated that the natural consequence would be that Mr. Johri continues as the CEO of BCCI and is entitled to resume office. Ms. Edulji disagreed with this. However, the Chairman reiterated that Mr. Rahul Johri should continue as the CEO of BCCI and resume his duties, as a natural consequence.”

Edulji, who had rejected the idea of forming the 'independent committee' and had instead demanded Johri be removed from his position as CEO, stuck to her stand. She, reportedly, had her reservations on the “independence” of the committee as well as the need for it.

She reiterated her dissent even in the statement issued today by the CoA. She was not in favour of allowing Johri to access his office today itself as she felt she needed more time to study the report. However, Rai, it is learnt, insisted that the statement be issued at the earliest.

Noting her reservations, the statement said, “At the outset, Ms. Edulji stated that she has not been able to go through the entire report due to paucity of time. However, after going through the final recommendations of each of the three members of the Committee, Ms. Eduji said that she does not agree with the conclusions of Justice Rakesh Sharma (Retd.) and Smt. Barkha Singh. She alluded to the finding in Ms. Gowda’s recommendations to the effect that as a CEO of an institution such as BCCI, the unprofessional and inappropriate conduct of Mr. Johri would adversely affect the reputation of BCCI.

“Ms. Edulji pointed out it has been her stand right from the beginning that the reputation of BCCI is of prime importance. In the circumstances, Ms. Edulji said that the fact that Ms. Gowda has recommended that Mr. Johri should undergo gender sensitization counselling/ training is sufficient for her to arrive at the conclusion that he is not fit to be the CEO of BCCI. Accordingly, she expressed the view that the report of the Committee is actually a split 2 : 1 verdict and Mr. Johri should be asked to tender his resignation with immediate effect.”

Johri had been asked to go on leave after a series of allegations of sexual harassment by him appeared on social media from both anonymous and identified victims. Cricket officials, both within the BCCI and outside, had expressed their scepticism on the outcome of the committee's findings alleging that Johri was being protected by Rai and other influential political persons involved in Indian cricket indirectly.

In fact, former Delhi commissioner of police and BCCI's Anti-Corruption Unit chief Neeraj Kumar, who had deposed before the committee on an earlier complaint by a BCCI staffer, tweeted minutes after Johri got the clean chit: “I told you so #bcciinquiry6committee”.