In a significant development at the Cine and TV Artistes Association (CINTAA), eight elected members of its executive committee have resigned from their positions with immediate effect. In a letter, they cited a loss of confidence in the current functioning of the body and called for fresh elections. The eight members who have resigned from CINTAA are Hemant Pandey, Mukesh Rishi, Sahila Chadha, Hetal Parmar, Puneet Issar, Vindu Dara Singh, Vikas Verma and Deepak Parashar.
In their joint resignation letter, the members who resigned said their decision followed what they described as repeated departures from the principles of collective decision-making, consultation and constitutional governance. They alleged that the functioning of the association had increasingly become concentrated around CINTAA President Poonam Dhillon and Senior Vice President Padmini Kolhapure, along with a section of other executive committee members.
“The President, Poonam Dhillon, has repeatedly taken unilateral decisions, issued official communications through her ID to government officials and unilaterally decided communications to industry bodies. through the official CINTAA ID, and represented the Association in public and with other government, quasi-judicial and industry bodies without the knowledge, consultation, and/or approval of the Executive Committee, thereby nullifying the principle of collective responsibility,” a part of the letter read.
The members who stepped down alleged that several decisions were being taken without adequate consultation with, or approval from, the executive committee. The letter further alleges that Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure visited government offices accompanied by privately engaged lawyers, who were allegedly introduced as CINTAA lawyers without the authority or sanction of the executive committee. These claims are part of the resigning members’ stated reasons for losing confidence in the current functioning of the association.
Speaking to ANI, CINTAA General Secretary Upasana Singh, confirmed that 11 members had resigned, of whom eight were elected executive committee members. Singh said the eight elected members had submitted their resignations along with complaints outlining their reasons for stepping down. “Out of our 11 members, eight elected members have resigned and submitted their resignations to me. They have also submitted their complaints, stating that Padmini Kolhapure and Poonam Dhillon are misusing their positions,” the TV actor said.
Singh also raised concerns about the use of personal email accounts for official correspondence. She explained that official communication from an association should ordinarily go through its official email system so that there is transparency and a record accessible to the organisation. “When a mail has to be sent to any organisation, we cannot send it through our personal mail ID if we want to send it officially. This is the same everywhere. Here, Poonam ji sends her personal mail ID to the organisations and asks them to send it to her. She gains no benefit from it but there is no transparency,” the actor added.
Meanwhile, responding to the matter, Advocate Suvigya Vidyarthi, on behalf of CINTAA, clarified that the association has not been dissolved. In a statement, Vidyarthi said, “The version which has been circulating that the EC of CINTAA is dissolved is totally wrong, misconceived and lacks any judicial sanctity. As per the Constitution of CINTAA, the EC shall dissolve only when more than 50 per cent of the elected members of the EC resign, which is not the case at hand.”
“FWICE has now jumped into the fray and, in CINTAA’s considered view, has sought to assume powers that are neither known to nor recognised under CINTAA’s constitutional framework. Acting, as we understand it, at the behest of certain disgruntled individuals, it has issued directions which CINTAA considers wholly untenable and contrary to the Constitution of the Association. Such attempts cannot determine or override the internal governance of an autonomous trade union functioning under its own Constitution. The Executive Committee of CINTAA remains very much in existence and continues to function for the welfare of artistes and for the protection and strengthening of the rights of vulnerable actors. CINTAA will take all appropriate steps available to it to safeguard the autonomy of the Association, uphold its Constitution and protect the larger interests of its members,” added the lawyer.
