Discovery India, the previous employer of Rahul Johri, has said that there is no record of sexual abuse by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) troubled Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
In a statement issued here yesterday, Discovery Communication India said, “We are very disturbed by the allegations reported in the media. During his tenure at Discovery, there were no reports of any misconduct against Rahul Johri.”
Johri, who was the executive vice president and general manager (South Asia), for Discovery Networks (Asia Pacific) before he joined the BCCI in June 2016, has been accused of sexual abuse in an anonymous Twitter post that was a part of the raging MeToo campaign in India.
The Discovery statement added, “Discovery has a zero tolerance policy for harassment of any kind. We train and conduct regular sessions to spread awareness amongst employees, have a 24/7 ethics hotline to encourage any reporting of issues either directly or anonymously.”
Meanwhile, the BCCI strove to clarify that acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary, currently representing the board at the International Cricket Council (ICC) conclave in Singapore, is no substitute for Johri.
“Ever since it was decided that Mr. Rahul Johri would not attend the ICC-CEC meeting, an impression has been created that the acting secretary is being sent as a ‘substitute’ for Mr Johri. It must be noted Mr. Choudhary is a Director on the ICC Board of Directors, the highest ICC forum, for nearly two years now and has been representing India/BCCI at the meetings in his capacity as the ICC Board Director,” the BCCI said in a release. Johri stayed away from the ICC meeting after his name cropped up in the MeToo campaign.
