Banks to take Rs 40 lakh in coins, allot man an hour per day

Lucknow: In a bizarre case, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has directed two banks in the state capital to accept Rs 40 lakh in coins in the denomination of `1, 2, 5 and 10 after January 1.

The SBI (Aishbagh branch) and the Allahabad Bank (Hussainganj branch) had earlier refused to accept the amount in coins.

Sandeep Ahuja, co-owner of a bread manufacturing company in Lucknow, wanted to deposit Rs 40 lakh in coins in his accounts but both the banks turned him down.

Mr Ahuja made several unsuccessful attempts to deposit the money. He then lodged a complaint with the currency officer of the RBI but got no response.

The businessman then filed a petition in the high court, where a bench comprising Chief Justice Dilip Baba Saheb Bhosle and Justice Rajan Roy took up the plea.

The counsel for the banks, Sudeep Seth, argued that taking the huge amount in coins was not possible, especially in view of the increased workload following demonetisation.

During the hearing, however, the banks agreed that the petitioner could be allowed to deposit coins worth Rs 5,000 once a day between 3 pm and 4 pm but after January 1.

The court directed that a copy of the order be sent to the income tax department and the RBI to look into the circumstances under which the deposit was to be made.