Delhi HC dismisses plea against exchange of ₹2000 note without identity proof

The Delhi High Court today dismissed a petition challenging the decision to allow the exchange of 2,000-rupee banknotes without any requisition slip or identity proof.

A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad rejected the plea by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

The petition was filed in the wake of a circular by SBI after the RBI on May 19 announced withdrawal of 2,000-rupee denomination banknotes from circulation by Sep 30. The SBI came up with a circular permitting exchange of notes without any identification proof.

Activist Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay had filed a petition in the high court to declare SBI's notification as arbitrary and against the right to equality as granted by the Constitution of India. A detailed order is awaited. The petition had said that the RBI and SBI must ensure that the 2,000-rupee notes are deposited only in the bank account of the person exchanging them so that no one can put that money in other bank accounts, and people having black money and disproportionate assets can be easily identified.

Another petition by Advocate Rajneesh Bhaskar Gupta had challenged the RBI's decision to withdraw 2,000-rupee banknotes from circulation, saying that the RBI had no independent powers under the RBI, 1934 Act to discontinue banknotes. The petition by Gupta is also listed today with the same bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.