The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) yesterday formed a three-member panel to probe the allegation of sexual harassment against BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.
The panel comprises former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Rakesh Sharma, who has been named chairman, Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Barkha Singh and former CBI Director PC Sharma.
It has been given 15 days to submit a report and will also examine "all allegations of sexual harassment against Johri while he was employed with the BCCI.
The Vinod Rai-led COA also has former India women's captain Diana Edulji.
In a press release, the COA has publicly admitted the divide within the CoA over the issue - an anonymous account of the alleged #MeToo Charge came up on social media. .
Diana Edulji and seven BCCI state units - Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Goa - have been demanding Johri's removal.
Chairman Vinod Rai has been resisting the sacking of BCCI CEO Rahul Johri. His views are:
- A probe is necessary before a call is taken on that,
- Due process of law and principles of natural justice should be followed,
- Johri has submitted his response to the show-cause notice issued against him
- The tweet was anonymous; the accuser, who is yet to reveal her identity, claims to be an ex-colleague of Johri during his stint with the Discovery channel.
- The post by the accuser, who claimed to be Johri's ex-colleague at a previous job, has been deleted by the twitter handle that originally shared it.
Edulji has demanded Johri's removal. Her views are:
- since the CEO has such grave sexual harassment allegations against him, it would not be in the interests of BCCI and Indian cricket that he represents BCCI.
- he should resign or his contract be terminated.
"Ms Edulji informed the Chairman she would approach Learned Amicus Curiae Shri Gopal Subramanium for further guidance if no action is taken and the CEO is allowed to continue," the COA statement added.
Johri will continue to remain on leave until the independent committee submits its report and a decision is taken on its findings.
