I was shocked after Rahul Johri was allowed to continue despite complaints of sexual harassment: Diana Edulji

BCCI, on Saturday, accepted the long-pending resignation letter of its CEO Rahul Johri. Johri had written his resignation to BCCI secretary Jay Shah a few months back and his term was set to end in April. However, he was given an interim extension by the Indian board.

In the wake of Johri’s resignation, Diana Edulji has opined that BCCI shouldn’t have allowed Johri to continue after complaints of sexual harassment against him. According to Edulji, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) should have handled the matter better after Johri’s matter broke out in 2018. She also said that the incident tarnished the image of the board.

In October 2018, Johri faced allegation for sexual harassment from an anonymous woman as part of the #MeToo movement. He, however, resumed the office in November after he was given a clean chit by the independent committee appointed by the CoA.

“When this matter broke out in October 2018, it was not shocking for me as there was a previous history which we were made aware of. If it was not for me, the poor complainant would have not received her apology letter from Rahul Johri.

Even then a lot of pressure was made on the complainant to close the matter. The way things moved, it looked like to me he was going to be covered up. The chairman and I had our differences and I made it clear that as a woman CoA member, I wouldn’t like this person sitting in the same room,” Diana Edulji said as quoted by Times Now.

Was overruled on every step I took towards getting justice: Diana Edulji

Edulji was surprised at how Johri got a clean chit and she even questioned the functioning of the independent committee in that case.

“When the independent committee was formed but that also wasn’t proper and I had objected, but I was overruled on every step I took towards getting justice. Looking at the way the independent committee worked, it was very clear that he would get away,” said Edulji.

“The women who deposed wanted cross-examination to be done, that didn’t happen, the reports weren’t given to them. Without their statements being handed over to them, could they even have gone to the court to address their grievances?” she added.

“It was shocking as I had made it very clear that they should know what is wrong. Everything I said was overlooked and he was given a clean-chit. A shocking bit was that Johri and wife were already at the BCCI HQ when the clean chit was announced, he wouldn’t have been at the office already unless he knew beforehand that he was getting a clean chit, the CFO welcomed him back with a bouquet and a cake cutting ceremony followed. An email was sent to the CEO that he should resume duties, but I had objected.”