Harassment Case against BCCI CEO Rahul Johri might be reopened

Displeased with the issues plaguing Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in recent months, the Supreme Court on Thursday appointed its former judge Justice AK Jain as the first ombudsman under the new constitution.

The appointment came after the Apex court bench of Justice SA Bobde and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre asked amicus curiae PS Narasimha of urgency to have it today (Thursday) only. Everyone inside the courtroom thought that amicus will cite the incident involving Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul’s TV show for the urgent appointment. But what turned out could well be an alarming bell for BCCI CEO Rahul Johri. 

“BCCI urgently needs ombudsman to tackle serious issues involving an officer of the BCCI,” was how amicus said. When further asked to specify, whether junior or senior? The amicus clarified: “It’s the CEO.”

In simple term, despite Committee of Administrators (COA) member Diana Edulji clear differences with chief Vinod Rai on clearing Johri from all the charges, there is no doubt that now Jain will reopen the case afresh.

“The issue of CEO sexual harassment was handled poorly by Rai’s self-appointed independent committee. Let the new ombudsman have a look into the allegations against Johri again,” a top BCCI office-bearer told DNA.