NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Tuesday created a flicker of hope for those failing to exchange the demonetised notes by December 30 and asked the government why it did not exercise the legal option of allowing people to deposit the demonetised currency beyond December 30.
Asking the government on a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) to explain why such a window was not given to those who could not adhere to the December 30 deadline as allowed to the NRIs and people who were abroad, the Bench asked whether it intends to give a chance to that category of people with genuine reasons to deposit demonetised currency.
A 3-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar said: “We would like to hear the matter again on April 11 and try to settle it.” In the last hearing on March 10, the government opted not to file any reply but argue the matter directly.
The Bench, which also included Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, on Tuesday asked: “Why did you not exercise the option of opening another window (provided under law). You may have 20 reasons.” The court said this when Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said Parliament did give the option to the government but it chose not to exercise it. The government “didn’t think it appropriate to exercise the option,” he submitted.
The apex court had on March 6 sought the responses of the Centre and the RBI as to why demonetised notes were not accepted until March 31 as was promised.
The Centre had come out with the Ordinance, which has now become an Act after passage by Parliament, making possession of a large number of scrapped notes a penal offence that will attract a monetary fine.
Of the Rs. 15.4 lakh crore worth of currency that was scrapped, about Rs. 14 lakh crore has been deposited in banks or exchanged till December 30, though the RBI has shied away till date to give the exact figures of the scrapped notes so deposited.
