The Delhi High Court dismissed a PIL on Monday that contested notifications from the Reserve Bank of India and State Bank of India that allow the exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes without a requisition slip or identification documentation.The plea had called the decision arbitrary, and irrational and offends Article 14 of the Constitution of India, hence, inoperative. The bench of Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad on monday passed the Judgement on the matter and decided to dismiss the plea.
Earlier, appearing for RBI, Senior Advocate Parag Tripathi opposed the plea and said it’s a statutory exercise and not a demonetisation.
The plea was moved by BJP leader and Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who sought direction from the RBI and SBI to ensure that Rs. 2000 banknotes are deposited in respective bank accounts only so that no one could deposit the money in others’ bank accounts and people having black money and disproportionate assets could be identified easily.During arguements before the Court, petitioner Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay clarified that he has not challenged the notification as a whole only as far as it allowed the exchange of currency without any proof of identity.
The plea also prayed for a direction to the Centre to take appropriate steps against the black money and disproportionate asset holders in order to weed out corruption, and benami transaction and secure the fundamental rights of citizens.
The plea further stated that according to the RBI total value of Rs. 2000 banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs. 6.73 lakh crore to 3.62 lakh crore, which 3.11 lakh crore has been reached either in individual’s locker otherwise has been hoarded by the separatists, terrorists, Maoists, drug smugglers, mining mafias and corrupt people.
Presently, the total population of India is 142 crore, the total number of families is 30 crore and 130 crores Indians have AADHAAR Card. It means every family has 3-4 AADHAAR cards. Similarly, the total number of accounts is 225 Crore and out of that 48 Crore are Jana Dhan accounts of BPL families. It means every family has a bank account it stated.The Centre recently declared that every family has an AADHAAR card and a bank account. Why then is RBI allowed to swap Rs. 2000 bills without requesting identification? It is also important to note that free grains are provided to 80 crore BPL families. It indicates that 80 billion Indians hardly ever utilise notes worth Rs. 2,000. As a result, the petitioner further requests instructions from the RBI and SBI on how to ensure that only bank accounts are used to deposit notes worth Rs. 2000.