Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
The division bench of the Delhi High Court dismissed a PIL that challenged the notifications by the Reserve Bank of India and State Bank of India, permitting the exchange of Rs. 2000 notes without asking for any ID proof. The PIL was filed by the Supreme Court Advocate and BJP leader Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. The respondents included RBI, SBI and Home Affairs and Finance Ministers. Senior Advocate Parag P Tripathi appeared for RBI and Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appeared for the Centre.
The opposition argued that “This is not demonetisation…This is a statutory exercise. None of the point raised by my learned friend [Upadhyay] in any manner impinges upon the point raised by my learned friend [Upadhyay] in any manner impinges upon the public issues” and requested to dismiss the PIL with costs.
The petitioner pleaded that RBI and SBI must be directed to guarantee that the notes are deposited in respective bank accounts only, so that no one can deposit the money in other accounts which could help in identifying people having black money and disproportionate assets and “weed out corruption, benami transaction and secure fundamental rights of citizens.”
“Recently, it was announced by the Centre that every family has AADHAAR Card and Bank Account. Therefore, why RBI is permitting to exchange Rs. 2000 banknotes without obtaining identity proof. It is also necessary to state that 80 Crore BPL families receive free grains. It means 80 crore Indians rarely use Rs. 2,000/- banknotes. Therefore, petitioner also seeks direction to RBI and SBI to take steps to ensure that Rs. 2000 banknotes are deposited in bank account only” the PIL stated.
Name of the Case: Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India and Ors.
Bench: Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.