BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha has denied asking authorities at the Eiffel Tower to remove, replace or sideline female employees during a private visit by its delegation earlier this month, as Paris city investigation found no explicit written request from the Hindu organisation to exclude women from the entire tour.
According to a report by Le Parisien, the General Inspectorate of the City of Paris concluded that the episode was due to what it called a collective dysfunction - a chain of errors in judgement, approvals and execution during the September 5th visit.
The investigation found no document or email from the Hindu delegation explicitly asking to exclude female employees from the delegation's entire route.
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"There is not a single written document, not a single email expressing this opinion. Everything was done between consenting adults," the investigation quoted.
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The findings come after a major controversy at the Paris landmark, as female employees were apparently moved away from certain positions during the private visit, and a strike subsequently caused the Eiffel Tower to temporarily close to visitors.
Initial reports had suggested that the exclusion of female staff was directly connected to the requirements of the visiting BAPS delegation. BAPS however denied requesting any discriminatory treatment and said that the arrangements for the visit had been coordinated with Eiffel Tower teams.
In an earlier response, BAPS said the visit had been scheduled at the beginning of regular opening hours because of the size of the delegation and to minimise disruption to other visitors. The organisation also apologised for concerns and distress caused by the incident.
The latest investigation appears to make a distinction between what happened on the ground and what the BAPS delegation explicitly requested.
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Le Parisien reported that the inspection did not find an "explicit request from the Hindu religious delegation to exclude women from the entire procession" but pointed to a series of decisions made during the organisation of the visit.
The controversy has also had consequences for the management of the Eiffel Tower. Patrick Branco Ruivo, director general of the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), announced that he would leave his position towards the end of 2026. He has insisted that he never instructed staff to remove or replace women during the delegation's visit.
The findings therefore shift the focus of the dispute from an alleged direct instruction by BAPS to the way the visit had been planned and managed by the Eiffel Tower's operating authorities.
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