“Some have plenty, others have nothing”, SC observed
TIA NEWS/ New Delhi
The Supreme Court Thursday asked the government to explain norms and ratio for the disbursement of new currency notes to the banks and other financial institutions holding the public deposits as it observed that some people have plenty and other none.
“You have to have norms that should apply to all across the board”, said the bench of Chief Justice T.S.Thakur, Justice A.M.Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud pointing out that if district co-operative banks will not get new currency in return to defunct currency they have deposited how will they continue with their operations.
“If you receive Rs. 1000 crores old currency notes (from a bank or a co-operative society operating under NABARD), how much of that yu will return. You say not immediately. What is the time frame? First month, second month, you stagger the payments”, said Chief Justice Thakur as government tried to skirt the question.
Having said this the court reserved its order for interim direction for hearing on the challenge to the legalkity of demonetisation decision, whether matter to be referred to a larger bench, questions to be addressed and the threshold limit on the withdrawals by the account holders.
As court said that “there has to be a ration, you must have a policy”, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said, There are dynamics that work. A bank may deposit more money, but may not need amount equal to what it has deposited.”
Defending the government’s demonetisation decision, Attorney General Rohatgi said, “The country is facing a revolution to clean the slush money of 70 years. This is not a case of dispossession. Some initiatives have been taken.”
Irrespective of the posers from the bench or from the counsel appearing for the petitioners challenging the demonetisation, the government stuck to one line that there were 7.5 lakh crores of currency notes in the market (five lakh crores of new denomination of Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 and 2.5 lakh crores of the denomination of Rs. Rs. 10, Rs. 20, Rs. 50 and Rs. 100.
Coupled with this Attorney General repeatedly told the court that all the wor=es on account of rationing were for another 14 days as the last date for rationing of currency notes ends on December 31.
“He says it is only 14 days. What will happen after December 31. People don’t have money for meeting their basic needs and to pay the school fees of their children”, senior counsel Kapil Sibal appearing for one of the petitioners told the bench.
Repeating his earlier argument, the Attorney General Rohatgi said those affected by the demonetisation like common man, farmer and others were not coming to the court and it were just the lawyers who were agitating before the court.
As AG again repeated that there were Rs. 7.5 lakh crores in the circulation, the court asked “How are people getting crores of new currency notes (obviously pointing to seizure of new currency notes worth crores), therte ard people who nothing.”
“Some have plenty, others have nothing”, the bench observed.
Urging the court to direct the government not to destroy the bold currency noites, counsel Prashant Bhushan told the court that problem is that they don’t have the new currency notes.