The law and judiciary department of the Maharashtra government has slapped a showcause notice on the trust managing Saibaba Temple for spending lakhs of rupees on a slew of projects without taking due permissions.
The showcause notice — a copy of which is with this newspaper — has asked the executive officer of the trust to clarify as to why the trust did not follow the rules and went overboard while spending its money. The issuance of the notice came to light following an RTI query filed by activist Sandeep Kulkarni, who has been fighting against the misuse of the trust’s funds by the office bearers.
Mr Kulkarni found that Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust spent the excess money on providing basic amenities like roads in Shirdi and did not obtain the prescribed permission. Incidentally, the trust was granted permission to spend `28 crore for the development of 11 roads leading to the temple, but it spent `50 crore without getting the necessary approval from the law and judiciary department. The state department is currently controlling the management of the trust’s funds, after the trust was dissolved over a PIL filed in the high court.
“The existing management board (trustees) of the trust has been involved in financial irregularities worth crores of rupees. The trust also gave its thousands of employees wages as per the Sixth Pay Commission, without taking permission from the government. Moreover, the trust has distributed bonuses to its employees, which is not permitted,” Mr Kulkarni said.