The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday dismissed the sexual harassment allegations against the cricketing body’s Chief Executive Officer, Rahul Johri. The same was confirmed by a senior official of the BCCI according to news agency agencies.
The panel that probed allegations against Johri comprised former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Rakesh Sharma, former Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Barkha Singh and lawyer Veena Gowda.
Johri was accused of sexual harassment in an anonymous social media post, which has since been deleted. He has denied the allegation in response to the show cause notice issued by the COA.
Johri was on forced leave for the past three weeks but can now resume office even though one member of the probe committee recommended “gender sensitivity counselling” for him.
The two-member CoA was divided on the issue. While Chairman Vinod Rai approved of Johri joining back, Diana Edulji demanded his resignation on the basis of some recommendations, including counselling.
“The allegations of sexual harassment in the office or elsewhere are false, baseless and have been fabricated and manufactured with an ulterior motive to harm Mr. Rahul Johri…,” head of the probe committee Justice (Retd) Rakesh Sharma stated in his findings.
Gowda recommended counselling for Johri owing to his “inappropriate behaviour” with one of the complainants during the Champions Trophy in Birmingham. She, however, maintained there was no case of sexual harassment against Johri.
