Demonetisation: Shirdi’s Sai temple receives Rs 2.28 crore in defunct notes

Since November 8, SSST had stopped accepting donations in defunct notes at its donation counters, however the devotees continued to put old notes in the cash-boxes.

On November 24, SSST received a letter from the Income Tax department, asking it not to deposit the defunct notes in the bank any further, said Shinde. The SSST then pasted instructions on all the cash boxes, asking people not to put the defunct notes.

However, the people still dropped old notes in the boxes and SSST received another Rs 71 lakhs in defunct notes, which have been kept in the temple’s treasury, Shinde said.

The temple is awaiting instructions from the IT department on how to deal with this cash, the official added.