Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 13 : Amid the ongoing dispute within the Cine & TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA), election proceedings, and legal issues, advocate AS Peerzada, representing President Poonam Dhillon and General Secretary Padmini Kolhapure, has questioned the manner in which the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) intervened in the association’s internal affairs.
Speaking to ANI, Peerzada said the federation should have handled the matter more effectively and maintained a neutral approach. He pointed out that CINTAA is a long-standing association with several senior film and television artistes and said Dhillon and Kolhapure were brought onto its board with the intention of strengthening its functioning and welfare activities.
“I feel that the way this case should have been handled effectively by the federation, but they did not handle it properly. The reason for this is that CINTAA is a very old association. There are many senior artists and television artists who have been doing a lot of welfare activities for their members for many years. This was the reason why Poonam ji and Padmini ji were brought on board,” he said.
Addressing the recent resignations by several CINTAA members, Peerzada asserted that the move does not give the federation unrestricted authority to supersede CINTAA’s elected committee.
“It was a completely wrong approach. The federation suddenly superseded the committee of CINTAA with lightning speed,” he added.
He further argued that internal disagreements among CINTAA members should not automatically become grounds for intervention by the federation, particularly when the association’s own constitution provides mechanisms for resolving such disputes.
“The federation should have given guidance to those people who were against it. They should have raised disputes. These internal disputes do not make a difference to the association. The affiliates are all autonomous bodies and the federation cannot interfere in their internal matters,” he said.
Peerzada also opened up on another contentious issue – the effect of resignations by office bearers.
“There is a provision in the constitution that says that if more than 50 per cent of people resign, the committee will be dissolved. But CINTAA said that 50 per cent of people did not give their consent. So, there is no question of dissolution. Even if the committee is dissolved, the elections will be conducted by CINTAA and not the federation,” he said.
The remarks come at a time when at least eleven Executive Committee members, including eight elected members, resigned in August, citing concerns over the association’s functioning and alleged unilateral decision-making by its leadership.
Upasana Singh and other dissenting members have accused Dhillon and Kolhapure of undemocratic functioning. Both office-bearers have denied the allegations.