Demonetisation: All procedures followed during demonetisation, RBI tells Supreme Court
Note Ban: The RBI stated that the procedure laid down in Section 26(2) of the RBI Act, 1934 was duly followed while taking the decision to ban Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes during demonetisation in November, 2016.
Notebandi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told the Supreme Court on Monday (December 5, 2022) that all procedures were followed during demonetisation. The RBI said that the procedure laid down in Section 26(2) of the RBI Act, 1934 was duly followed while taking the decision to ban Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes during note ban in November, 2016.
The court was hearing the petitions filed against demonetisation
A bench headed by Justice S Abdul Nazeer was hearing the petitions filed against demonetisation. The bench also comprised Justices BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, V Ramasubramaniam and B V Nagarathna. Meanwhile, senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for RBI, told the court that we have stated on the affidavit that the quorum prescribed by the rules was complete. He said discussions on the proposed move had begun in February 2016, but were kept confidential.
Attorney General R Venkataramani replied on behalf of the Center
At the same time, the petitions argued that under Section 26(2) of the RBI Act, the recommendation for demonetisation must have come from the RBI, but this was not the case in 2016. Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the government, said the government was determined to eliminate these three evils. He said, “They (the petitioners) said that we should have done a detailed study before demonetisation. For more than a decade, the central government and the Reserve Bank of India are watching the three evils.. They are like Jarasangh and you should cut them into pieces. If you don’t do this, these evils will live forever.”
At the same time, Gupta also responded to the allegation of senior advocate P Chidambaram that the Center has not yet submitted some important documents including the November 7 letter to the RBI and the November 8 cabinet decision, nor the details of all of them, Who attended the RBI Central Board meeting. Chidambaram also questioned whether the quorum was met as required under the Act.
Chidambaram asked why the government was not showing the papers to the court. To this the Attorney General replied, “Nothing is being hidden. If the court asks for it, we will definitely show the documents to the court.”
