Technician reported communications problems during engine start on a departure aircraft. A fuel leak was noticed and no maintenance action was taken prior to aircraft departure.

Narrative

Good morning; we had an incident here at Gate XX at approximately XA40. Operations called us to go to Gate XX to investigate Aircraft X; Engine 2 regarding a fuel leak. I went out with Person A; the midnight Lead and we were ready to investigate the leak while the crew ran the engine since it was a full flight and ready to go. Once we got there the crew told the ramp that operation had given them the green light to push out to the alley even though we in maintenance objected. We did not think going out to the alley while the Ramp was pushing the aircraft would be the best choice since the aircraft was still at the Gate. We were overridden by Operations and the Crew asked the Ramp to push back to the alley. I followed the aircraft to the alley while the ramp positioned the aircraft on the center line. As the crew started #2 engine and began to run I noticed fuel was not dripping out but gushing out the bottom and spraying the aft end of the engine. I was yelling at the crew to stop the engine and it took about 10 seconds or so for anyone to acknowledge what I was asking. At this point I was not sure what type of leak we had and instructed the Ramp to bring the aircraft back to the Gate. They began to bring the aircraft back to the Gate. I went back in to gather more guys to help out. By the time we went back out the aircraft was back on the center line and the engine was running again. The ramp said that operations stopped the aircraft from coming back to the Gate and they were instructed to push back out and have the crew run the engine and observe for leaks. Supposedly the leak stopped and the aircraft left. I personally witnessed the engine spraying fuel from the bottom and the ramp did not. They should NOT be observing for leaks since they did not even see an active stream and this procedure is dangerous. We had people on board with an engine spraying fuel out as it started which can lead to a fire. I was beyond livid from what I experienced this morning. Most of us take pride in our work and regard safety of the passengers as our PRIMARY concern. What I witnessed this morning was everything but that. I called Maintenance Control to voice my concern because originally we were told that they made the decision. After speaking to one of them they said it came from OUR operations here. We have new hires and this is not the way they should be observing our maintenance program to be run. We should not be sending aircraft to the centerline to run an engine when it has been reported by the ramp and/or crew that there is a leak and have the ramp determine if there is a leak.