The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has sought an explanation “within a week” from Rahul Johri, CEO of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in the wake of sexual harassment charges against him. A woman has accused Johri of sexually harassing her on the pretext of giving her a job at his previous place of work.
On late Friday night, Rahul Johri was named by a Twitter user posting on behalf of the alleged victim who does not wish to name. In her post, the user shared three screenshots containing a detailed account of the woman who accused Johri of taking advantage of her on the pretext of offering a job.
The post gave a detailed account of the sexual act committed on the woman. After several media reports had named and posted the tweet, the Twitter user posted a follow-up tweet as all media organisations from naming, quoting, and mentioning her or giving links to her tweets, or post screenshots, saying the survivor wanted her privacy respected.
Rahul Johri, who has been serving as the BCCI CEO since April 2016, has not issued any statement regarding the allegations, but as per a report published in Cricketnext, the CoA has issued a statement saying it has asked him to submit his explanation “within a week”.
“There are certain media reports today, including in the social media, pertaining to Mr. Rahul Johri, CEO BCCI,” the media release read. “The reports disclose allegations of sexual harassment made against Mr. Johri, by an unnamed person through a twitter handle. The allegations also relates to his previous employment with a large media house. The allegations have appeared as a part of the “me too” movement.
“Though, the said allegations do not pertain to his employment with the BCCI, the Committee of Administrators of the BCCI has deemed it appropriate to seek an explanation from Mr Johri in relation to the allegations. He has been asked to submit his explanation within a week. Future course of action will be considered on receipt of his explanation.”
Rahul Johri is responsible for BCCI operations, stakeholder management, building strategies and for further promoting cricket in India. Before his stint with BCCI, Johri served as Executive Vice President and General Manager – South Asia for Discovery Networks Asia Pacific.