A day after the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai formed an independent panel to probe allegations of sexual harassment against under-fire BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, his colleague Diana Edulji has maintained her stand to sack him.
Former Indian women cricket team skipper Diana Edulji also said the presence of Johri would make all women — herself, players and office employees — uncomfortable.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Diana Edulji said, “As a woman in the CoA, it was my moral duty to ask for the resignation because my women’s team is there, my women support staff is there, and there are women staff working in BCCI. He (Johri) will roam around freely in the office. What message are we sending to these girls? How can I sit in the meeting with him? I can’t look in his eyes. You can’t say now he can’t sit in the meeting, then how will CoA work? After all, our main goal is to implement the Lodha recommendations.”
Diana Edulji also said BCCI was bigger than everyone and the image of the board should come first.
“Nobody is larger than the organisation. BCCI interest is first. BCCI image should not be affected; nobody should take away that,” she said.
Earlier, in a statement, CoA had said an independent three-member panel chaired by Rakesh Sharma, a former judge of the Allahabad High Court which also include PC Sharma, a former CBI director, and Barkha Singh, a former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, would look into the matter.
“The independent committee is being requested to submit its report containing its findings and recommendations within 15 days. Johri will continue to remain on leave until the committee submits its report and the same is acted upon,” the statement read.