Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 29 (ANI): Actor and Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) president Poonam Dhillon on Monday spoke about the ongoing dispute over the association’s office, alleging that its staff and elected members were stopped from entering the premises amid tensions with the Cine Artistes Welfare Trust (CAWT).
While speaking to ANI, Dhillon discussed the dispute over CINTAA Tower, the association’s history and allegations surrounding the control of its office.
Dhillon said the association was recently informed through an email that CAWT was the actual owner of the building, despite CINTAA members having contributed towards its construction.
Recalling the incident, she said that several security personnel were deployed outside the office to prevent CINTAA members and staff from entering the premises.
“Today was a strange day. A few days ago, we received an email saying that CAWT is the actual owner of this building. Although CINTAA members built this building and CAWT itself was built by CINTAA members, they wanted to control it so much that they said CINTAA staff cannot enter, we, the elected members of the EC, cannot enter, and no one can come up. We were quite shocked,” she told ANI.
The actor further alleged that CINTAA had provided Rs 6 crore towards the construction of the tower when CAWT was facing a shortage of funds. According to her, the arrangement included a common office for both organisations and welfare activities for CINTAA members.
“CINTAA had given them a big amount of Rs 6 crore because they were short of funds to build this tower. At that time, the conditions were that there would be a common office for CAWT and CINTAA, where the office staff would be based. There were many other conditions as well, but this was one of them. They were supposed to carry out welfare activities for CINTAA members, and all those things were agreed upon,” she said.
The actor further added that the situation was gradually being resolved but raised concerns over whether the association’s staff could face similar restrictions again.
“Who is CAWT to throw our staff out of their jobs? They are not your employees; they are employees of CINTAA. How can you stop them?” she asked.
Meanwhile, CINTAA members Deepak Qazir Kejriwal and Abhay Bhargav also spoke to ANI about the ongoing dispute and concerns among members.
“Today, our purpose of coming here is that we got a notice in which it was said that SINTA members cannot come to CINTAA Tower. Later, they removed it and said that staff cannot come…..No court has passed whether someone can come or not…..,” he alleged.
Visuals from the CINTAA office showed members and staff gathering amid heated arguments over the ongoing issue. Dhillon was also seen interacting with members and staff during the discussions.
The latest dispute comes amid tensions within CINTAA over the functioning of its executive committee. Eleven members had resigned last month, raising concerns over the way some key decisions were being taken without enough consultation with the committee. Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure rejected the allegations. The election process was later challenged in court. On September 9, the court allowed the polls to go ahead, subject to the outcome of the ongoing legal proceedings.
The CINTAA elections took place on September 12. (ANI)
Poonam Dhillon alleges CINTAA members, staff denied entry to office amid ongoing dispute, says ‘What is CAWT trying to control CINTAA for?’
