sumeet nair toi photothe indian fashion industry is heading for another divide the fight over who will run fashions governing body fashion design council of india has been going on for some time now between the bodys ed sumeet nair and a group of its members including karuna khaitan anju modi bobby grover etc these designers have been alleging that the bodys dg rathi vinay jha is being forced to resign prematurely there are financial bunglings involved in the daytoday running of the body and favouritism is being shown to a select group of designers while others are getting a raw deal on tuesday sumeet said in a press conference that he has sent his resignation from the board of governors and has asked for his consultancy contract to be closed he chose to take the high moral ground by timing this with the announcement that an external audit had cleared him of all charges of financial wrongdoing a point contested by critics who speaking to dt questioned the credentials and proximity to sumeet of the auditors the situation is getting very bad in the fdci because of power and politics involved i see no future for it and as far as the court case against me by the group of designers is concerned it will still go on hinting that a rival fashion body is in the offing he added i want to work in the industry and all options are open as of now you will hear from me very soonwith a group of influential names backing him the schism in the fashion world is all too apparent making a point against fdci dg rathi vinay jha he said when it came to talking to the designers on a personal note she told them that she has complete faith in me but rathi never publicly accepted it and that has bothered me the reactions of the fashion industry were along predictable lines sumeets foremost critic anju modi said that the court had served notice on sumeet and prima facie theres truth in the charges he is facing tarun tahiliani a strong supporter felt that it is a tragedy that they have lost their visionary ed a perception shared by ashish soni sunil sethi perhaps expressed the sentiments that many felt when he said that it would be a sad day for the fdci and the fraternity if there was another divide in the offinganju modimy take on his quitting is that we had made a petition in the court which was admitted by the court and summons served on him so prima facie there is the truth in it about the audit id like to say that any expense requires prior sanction from the governing body of the board which was not the case here karunas letters and those of other members are proof of that the board was being kept in the dark about all correspondence and decisions jj valayathis is sumeet nairs personal