While cautioning against seeming pompous, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated before the Supreme Court on December 6 that the 2016 demonetization effort was a vital component of nation-building.
At one point, Mr. Gupta was reminded of the lengthy lines outside banks and ATMs by Justice B.V. Nagarathna, who was sitting on the bench. A lot of people were unable to access their money.
He claimed that complex plans had been made to give everyone a fair chance and period of time to exchange their old money for new. It served as a tool for organizing people’s affairs. Changes were made whenever issues arose. There was a control room in use.
Justice Nagarathna made reference to individuals who might not have exchanged their demonetized 500 and 1,000 rupee notes for the new currency on December 31, 2016, due to an excessively long line outside the bank.
According to Mr. Gupta, banks back then operated around the clock. Bank employees upheld the rules.
Many of the people waiting in lines, according to Justice Nagarathna, may have been domestic workers and day laborers who were paid in the old currency and were waiting to exchange it every day.
In response to the question of whether it would be practical for a person in a coma or an Indian who had left the country to exchange her old notes, Mr. Gupta said that they could have had someone go to the bank to exchange the old notes on their behalf.
The RBI meekly consented to the government’s advice after consideration of one hour in one day, according to Mr. Chidambaram. Finding the goals for the 2016 demonetization exercise, according to him, was like trying to discover a black cat in a dark room. In his response, he argued that the government could not frighten the court into not conducting a judicial review of the demonetization program by claiming that judges lacked relevant knowledge of economic policy.
He emphasized that the records of the decision-making process that led to demonetization had not been provided to the court by the government. The government had not asserted the privilege in its oral arguments or on affidavit, according to the senior attorney.
News Mania Desk
