Rupee 2000 Note: The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a PIL challenging the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to withdraw the Rs 2,000 note from circulation.
Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramaniam Prasad dismissed the petition. Earlier, the verdict on the petition was reserved on May 30. Petitioner Rajneesh Bhaskar Gupta had argued that the RBI has no power to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes from circulation and only the central government can decide in this regard.
2000 rupee note
He had said in his petition that the RBI has no independent power to direct demonetisation of bank notes of any value. This power is vested only with the Central Government under Section 24(2) of the RBI Act of the year 1934. The petition was opposed by the RBI saying that the withdrawal of the Rs 2,000 note from circulation is part of the ‘currency management campaign’ and is a matter related to economic planning.
Announcement to withdraw from circulation
RBI had announced withdrawal of two thousand rupee notes from circulation on May 19 and said that the existing notes can be deposited or exchanged in bank accounts till September 30. Earlier, the High Court had rejected the petition of advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
The Rs 2,000 bank note
petition claimed that the RBI and SBI notifications allowing exchange of Rs 2,000 bank notes without any evidence were arbitrary and against a law designed to prevent corruption. In this regard, the High Court had said that this has been done to save the citizens from inconvenience. The court also said that it cannot act as an appellate authority on any policy decision.
