The Bombay High Court bench comprising of Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere has issued a notice to the Union of India through the Finance Minister while hearing a petition claiming that an excess of one trillion sixty-five billion and five hundred million came into the economy after demonetization. The court has stated that it is a matter of national security.
The petition quoted from the RBI's annual report and stated that between April 1, 2000, and March 31, 2016, currency notes of 500- and 1,000-rupee denominations worth Rs 1,41,13,50,00,00,000 (fourteen trillion, one hundred thirteen billion and five hundred million in currency) were in circulation. However, a total of Rs 1,52,80,00,00,00,000 (fifteen trillion and two hundred eighty billion in currency) of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations was collected in a short period post-demonetisation, which is an excess of Rs 11,66,50,00,00,000 (one trillion, sixty-five billion and five hundred million in rupees).
Petitioner Manoranjan Roy, who previously filed a similar petition in 2015, i.e., before demonetization, which was dismissed as being frivolous, has gathered some important data through RTI queries. According to the said data, from 2000 to 2011, the RBI had received a certain number of currency notes from the three security printing presses in Nashik, Dewas, and Mysuru. From 2000 to March 2016, 10,400 million pieces (currency notes) were received by the RBI. However, as per the RTI query, the total number of pieces destroyed were 11,222 million, 822 million pieces more than the total currency received. The petition further provides details of deposit of old notes in district co-operative banks controlled by NABARD, within a span of four days from November 10 to November 14, 2016, and questions how such huge amounts of these old demonetized notes were deposited. Finally, directions are sought to constitute an independent inquiry into the matter and appoint "some investigating agency". The court has directed the respondents to file their replies by April 12.
Courtesy/By: Rishikesh
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01 Mar 2019
