SC to hear note plea

PTI & TT, 3 November 2017, New Delhi: A five-judge constitution bench, which would decide the validity of the Centre's November 8, 2016, decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, would also deal with the pleas seeking to deposit the demonetised currency, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra disposed of as many as 14 petitions seeking its nod to deposit scrapped currency notes on the ground that they could not be done during the window period provided by the Reserve Bank of India due to compelling reasons. The court asked the petitioners to file interlocutory pleas in the pending petition to be dealt with by the constitution bench.

"We think it appropriate that the writ petitioners shall file interlocutory pleas in the pending writ petition... before the Constitution bench," the bench, also comprising Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, said.

The top court said it has not opined on the merits of the validity of the ordinance or on the demonetisation decision, which would be dealt with by the larger bench along with the individual grievances.

Attorney-general K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said persons who have approached the court for depositing scrapped notes would not be prosecuted with regard to the amount specifically mentioned in their petitions. Some petitioners claimed they had not challenged the constitutional validity of either the provisions of the RBI Act or the Centre's notification, but they wanted to deposit their notes.

"Our hard-earned money has been confiscated without due process of law and without granting fair opportunity," lawyer Pranav Sachdeva, appearing for one of the petitioners, said, adding that the constitution bench should be constituted as expeditiously as possible.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by one Sudha Mishra, seeking a direction to authorities to allow her to deposit demonetised notes as she could not do so during the period specified by the Centre and RBI. The Centre has already filed an affidavit saying the government was not going to open any window now to deposit the old notes.

One of the pleas said the government had assured the people that demonetised currency notes could be exchanged at banks, post offices and RBI branches till December 30, 2016. If people were unable to deposit them by that day, they could do so till March 31, 2017, at RBI branches after complying with certain formalities. The Prime Minister's address to the nation on the evening of November 8 last year on demonetisation and subsequent notifications of the federal bank that the devalued currency notes can be exchanged at RBI offices even up to March 31, 2017, were valid assurances which stood breached by the Specified Bank Notes Cessation of Liabilities Ordinance, it said.