MSSA attacked, then hit back at allegations

Mumbai resident Gaurav Sharma earned the label of Spiderman because of his feats of scaling tall buildings perching on windows or protuberances on the faccedilade dressed like Spidey On Monday though Sharma found a lower perch at Mumbai Press Club at Azad Maidan to slam what he claimed was a ldquobig scamrdquo by the Mumbai Schools Sports Association MSSA Citing numerous irregularities the activist said a concerted clean up effort must begin ldquoso that the future of more than 70000 Mumbai children in school sport is not endangeredrdquo ldquoI am a member of the socalled MSSA It is not registered with the Charity Commissionerrsquos officerdquo he beganMoney mattersHe pointed that Fr Jude Rodrigues president of MSSA and other office bearers are ldquohiding information regarding bank account FDs properties etc An inspectorrsquos report through RTI showed that in 201617 MSSA got Rs 14cr as donations and grants but in the year 2018 the balance remaining was R826000 only Rest of the 13 crore 91 lakhs 74 thousand rupees were siphoned offrdquoAlso ReadT20 World Cup 2024 Ravi Bishoni hopeful of Indian squads selectionFr JudeCar controversyHe added ldquoFather Jude Rodrigues and team are in illegal possession of the entire ground as the lease is over in 2016 and as per rule the government should take back the possession of the ground ldquoFather Jude purchased a new Bolero to be converted into an ambulance which can be used for children in emergency during sports but the Bolero is used for Fr Rodriguesrsquos personal use and we still donrsquot have any ambulance on the ground The kids are taken in taxi to hospital in an emergencyrdquoChild labourSharma added ldquoIn 2017 with the help of police I had rescued a child from MSSA who was forced to clean toilets and do housekeeping work for Father Jude and teamrdquo attaching an FIR copy as proof Sharma claimed during the interactive session peppered with lsquodhongi babarsquo accusations slamming Fr Rodrigues and other office bearers that ldquothis is a cry for justice I request Shri Eknath ji Shinde who himself is a sports lover should come ahead and give directions to the charity commission office and Mumbai police to file FIR against Father Jude and team and recover public money and property which they are occupying illegallyrdquoThe blackmailerThe MSSA hit back stating that Sharma is not a member of the MSSA and never was ldquoHe is notorious a fraudster extortionist and trying to blackmail MSSA He has no source of income and perhaps relies on bullying people for his personal gain Often he has come drunk to the MSSA premises threatening the MSSA watchmen and children for which we have given police complaintsrdquoAudit doneThe MSSArsquos Hon Jt Secretary Joseph Monteiro said in a communication on behalf of the schools body that ldquoThe MSSA is registered under the Society Registration Act 1860 As alleged that crores of rupees were received as donations and grants is not true The report of the Charity Comm Inspector does not show crores of rupees But this Gaurav Sharma has added zeroes to mislead the media and general public at large MSSA has been regularly filing the audited statement of accounts before the competent authorities right from its inceptionrdquo On the lease accusation the schools body said ldquothe MSSA ground was given to MSSA for the conduct of various games the lease for the ground was given on a longterm basis and the same is pending before the competent authoritiesrdquoThe ambulanceOn the Bolero front the MSSA stated ldquoA jeep is purchased by the Association for the multipurpose use of the Association and it is kept at the Association premises However a St John Ambulance is also used as and when required by the Associationrdquo The MSSA claimed that ldquochild labourrdquo was ldquonever employed by the MSSA but had been planted by Sharma himselfrdquo