Pandya, Rahul should be suspended till further course of action: Diana Edulji

Member of Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) Diana Edulji on Friday suggested that cricketers Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul should be put under suspension till a further course of action is decided for their misconduct on the celebrity chat show 'Koffee With Karan'.

Edulji gave an instance of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri, who was sent on leave in the sexual harassment matter, and said that same treatment should be handed over to the two cricketers.

"It will be imperative that the players(Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul) be put under suspension till a further course of action is decided for this misconduct as was done in the case of CEO when he was sent on leave in the sexual harassment matter," Edulji said in a statement.

Earlier, BCCI secretary Anirudh Chaudhary had pushed for strong punishment for Pandya and Rahul following their controversial remarks against women on the chat show. He said that a two-match suspension as suggested by CoA member Vinod Rai is merely a "stop-gap arrangement" considering that the CoA had banned Australian cricketer Steve Smith and David Warner for an entire IPL season following a massive ball-tampering scandal, last year.

He further stated that players should be allowed to re-join the team after going through a "proper sensitization" in addition to serving the ban given.

Pandya, who shared the couch with Rahul on the latest episode of Karan Johar's show, faced backlash for what netizens termed 'sexist' and 'disrespectful' remarks on women.

On the show, he bragged about not asking the names of women at parties and how he watched them move on the dance floor.

Later, Pandya took to social media and apologised for the incident saying he "may have got a bit carried away with the nature of the show".