Kathmandu, July 10 - Delhi-bound Anil Kumar Sharma had a traumatic experience in Nepal during his recent visit.

The 40-year-old was stopped from boarding his flight at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport June 30 and instead interrogated by Nepal's Revenue Investigation Department (RID).

His `crime': he was carrying 140 thousand-rupee notes in Indian currency, that, along with 500-rupee notes, are banned outside India.

Though Sharma was eventually allowed to depart, RID has initiated a case against him for violating currency laws. He might have to return to Nepal to pay a fine or worse, face a prison sentence.

Besides the stress, and the eventual legal expense he might have to bear, Sharma had to also leave behind the banned notes in Nepal.

All the genuine Indian currency notes of the denomination Rs.1,000 and Rs.5,00, once they are confiscated from travellers, are sent to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Nepal's central bank.

'We have more than Rs.300-400 million worth of such Indian notes,' says Trilochan Pagini, NRB spokesman.

'However, the money is gathering dust here since it can't be put to any use.'

NRB has several times asked India's apex bank, the Reserve Bank of India, to either accept the money or allow it to keep it in its RBI account in Kolkata.

However, the Indian authorities have turned down both proposals.