Alok Nath

CINTAA

The move

#MeToo: CINTAA expels Alok Nath amid rape allegations The Cine and TV Artists Association (CINTAA) Tuesday said it has expelled Alok Nath, a month after the actor was accused of rape by a writer-producer.

Alok Nath's lawyer resorts to character assassination in court Ashok Saraogi questions Vinta Nanda’s “rape” charge, says even hangover causes pain; her lawyer Dhruti Kapadia asks what has a woman to gain by saying she was raped

Film body conveyed its decision after actor was a no-show at a meeting to address Vinta Nanda’s rape allegations against him.Over a month after writerfilmmaker Vinta Nanda accused, the leading man of her hit 1990s TV show Tara, of raping her twice 19 years ago, Cine and TV Artistes Association () has expelled the veteran actor.comes a day after Nath was a no-show at the body’s meeting on November 12 to present his case, sending a response to the show-cause notice instead. On Tuesday, CINTAA sent a letter to the actor by courier to inform him about their decision.“The Executive Committee (EC) took the call on Monday after going through Alok Nath’s reply to our show-cause notice. He was also supposed to be present at the meeting, but he didn’t turn up. The EC unanimously voted him out,” CINTAA general secretary Sushant Singh told Mirror, refusing to divulge the contents of Alok’s letter.Prod him if the decision to expel Nath should have come from the film body’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), which has been set up to address complaints under the Sexual Harassment Act 2013, and Sushant reasons, “We have formed our ICC but first, they need to be POSH-trained (Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act) on how to hear cases, take a deposition, cross-question, among many other things. They need thorough training first. We can’t just throw cases at them. So, this case was handled under our current provisions – the CINTAA constitution says that any act by a member that proves to be defamatory to the association, against its interests or any of its affiliates, warrants a show-cause notice and, if need be, expulsion.”Applauding CINTAA’s decision, Vinta told Mirror, “I think it’s a big step because at the end of the day we all have to acknowledge that we are answerable and accountable to our governing bodies. It’s only then, that institutions like CINTAA, IFTDA (Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association) and Screenwriters Association (SWA) will achieve the status they deserve. Mr Alok Nath should have given credit to the organisation he is a member of and should have attended the meetings when he was asked to do so, thrice. I turned up for the SWA meeting when asked to. On November 21, I am going to an IFTDA meeting.”Does this move set a precedent or some sort? “Discipline is an important factor that was lacking in our system and today, CINTAA has shown that now people will not be able to act with impunity for the rest of their lives. The belief that you can get away with anything isn’t going to work any longer. It’s a very loud and clear message,” Vinta says.When Mirror got in touch with Alok Nath for a comment, he said, “I’m celebrating.”