Mumbai: NSCI secretary Atul Maru appears before EOW over club’s forensic audit

The secretary of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) Atul Maru presented himself for questioning before the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police on March 15 in connection with a complaint registered by the management.

The complaint to the EOW was filed by the management following a forensic audit of the NSCI conducted by KPMG, a renowned audit, tax and advisory services firm.

Club is staring at a loss of Rs145 crore

The prestigious club has as many as 18,000 members, including several corporate bigwigs and celebrities. Significantly, it is witnessing intense lobbying for the elections to the 49-member managing committee scheduled to be held on Sunday, March 26. A member said, “The club is staring at a loss of Rs145 crore.” The BMC has also sent a huge bill to NSCI.

Maru said he was called only as a witness to get information about a criminal case registered against five persons, including three contractors. He categorically stated that there is no offence registered against him whatsoever.

FIR details

The alleged offences include Indian Penal Code’s sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and sections for other alleged offences. The notice to Maru was sent under section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) by Senior Inspector Prinam Parab of Unit III (General Cheating I) of the EOW.

United Active Force (UAF), which is challenging the existing NSCI establishment, is demanding that the club be brought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act even though it is not a government institution.

Another member said important documents like the KPMG report should have been placed in the public domain. Promise of transparency is one of the demands of the members.

Life membership @ 80 Lakh

The club charges Rs80 lakh for life membership with an annual subscription of Rs15,000 and ordinary membership costs Rs65 lakh with annual subscription of Rs15,000, while corporate membership involves payment of Rs1.20 crore and annual subscription of Rs30,000.