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No urgent hearing on plea against exchange of 2000 notes without ID proof: SC

ByAbraham Thomas
Jun 01, 2023 12:50 PM IST

A Delhi high court bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad had on May 29 held that the present case is not the case of demonetisation but the withdrawal of Rs.2000 denomination banknotes from circulation

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to grant an urgent hearing on a plea challenging the Delhi high court’s order refusing to interfere with the May 19 decision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitting the exchange of Rs.2000 denomination currency notes without any identity proof.

The RBI on May 19 announced the withdrawal of Rs.2000 currency notes from circulation (Representative Photoi)
The RBI on May 19 announced the withdrawal of Rs.2000 currency notes from circulation (Representative Photoi)

The Delhi high court had on May 29 held that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision followed by another notification a day later by the State Bank of India was not in the nature of demonetisation as the Rs.2000 note continues to be legal tender.

Taking note of the submission, a vacation bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and KV Viswanathan said, “This kind of case we are not taking up during vacation. You are at liberty to mention before the Chief Justice of India on reopening.”

Also Read: 2,000: Delhi-NCR shopkeepers take ‘note’ of panic, cash in with discounts and cashback

Seeking urgent listing, advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay said that the high-value currency is commonly used as ‘black money’ by criminals, anti-social elements, illegal miners, drug mafia and corrupt persons and the currency should be accepted into the respective bank accounts only.

Upadhyay pointed out the gravity of the matter quoting media reports which said within a week, the total amount in Rs.2000 denomination exchanged by banks was to the tune of thousands of crores.

The lawyer said the notes are being exchanged without any requisition slip and ID proof like an Aadhaar card by criminals and terrorists.

“All black money is being exchanged as there is neither any requisition slip nor identity proof insisted upon by banks exchanging Rs.2000 notes,” Upadhyay said, adding that such a decision is happening for the first time in the world. The bench told Upadhyay, “You bring all this to the notice of the RBI.”

A Delhi high court bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad had on May 29 held that the present case is not the case of demonetisation but the withdrawal of Rs.2000 denomination banknotes from circulation.

It said that the government has taken a decision not to insist upon the requirement of identity proof for the exchange of Rs.2000 denomination banknotes so that everybody can exchange the same with the other denomination banknotes.

“Therefore, it cannot be said that the decision of the Government is perverse or arbitrary or it encourages black money, money laundering, profiteering or it abets corruption,” the court had said.

The high court had also stated that the decision taken by the Centre in relation to the economic policies is not ordinarily interfered with by the Courts unless it is manifestly arbitrary.

The high court noted that Rs.2000 notes were brought into circulation after the demonetisation exercise of November 2016 to meet the shortfall of currency requirements to meet the day-to-day requirements of citizens.

Also Read: Chidambaram, Sitharaman in war of words over 2,000 note

The high court further held that the decision to withdraw 2000 currency notes, six years after the demonetisation exercise, was purely a policy decision and courts should not sit as an appellate authority over such decisions.

The RBI had on May 19 announced the withdrawal of Rs.2000 currency notes from circulation, and said existing notes in circulation can either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged by September 30.

The printing of 2000 currency notes stopped in 2018-19.

The RBI notification of May 19 disclosed that presently, Rs.2000 denomination banknotes account for Rs.3.62 lakh crores of the total currency in circulation and they are not being commonly used for transactions. For this reason, the central government decided to withdraw these banknotes from circulation.

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