A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court regarding the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to ban banknotes in the denomination of Rs 2,000, as part of its clean note policy.
Filed by BJP leader and Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, the plea contended that the RBI’s direction to the banks allowing the deposition of banknotes in the denomination of Rs 2000 without any demand slip and identity proof was arbitrary, irrational and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.
The petitioner sought directions from the High Court to both RBI and the State Bank of India (SBI) that banknotes of Rs 2,000 be deposited in respective bank accounts instead of any other bank account, so that people with black money and disproportionate assets could be identified.
Apart from this, the petition sought directions to the Union of India to take appropriate steps against black money and disproportionate assets holders, in order to eliminate corruption and benami transactions, apart from securing the fundamental rights of the citizens.
On May 19, the central bank had announced withdrawal of banknotes in the denomination of Rs 2,000, saying that though it will remain a legal tender, but people were advised to deposit or exchange the same at bank branches or designated RBI offices till September 30.
As per the banker’s bank, individuals had the option to exchange Rs 2,000 banknotes for other denominations up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank, beginning May 23.
However on May 20, a date after the announcement, the Central government clarified that there was no daily limit on the number of times to exchange notes.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said the banknote in the denomination of Rs 2,000 was introduced with the primary purpose of quickly replenishing the value of money that was being taken out of the system via demonetisation.
As that purpose has been fulfilled and there were enough notes of other denominations now, the decision was taken to withdraw these notes, he said.
Das said the printing of these notes had been stopped, adding that people should see this particular exercise as part of RBI’s currency management operation.