New Delhi: If your old demonetised notes are genuinely and legitmately obtained, and you have not deposited the same in your bank during the earlier window provided – from November 8th to December 31st 2016, you may be in with a chance to retrieve your money’s worth. The Supreme Court has asked the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India to see if it is possible to provide a window for genuine cases to deposit their old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 demonetised notes.
According to CNBC-TV18 the Apex Court has given the union government and the RBI two weeks to clarify their position on allowing people with bonafide reasons to deposit their now defunct currency. Noting the government cannot seek to deny its citizens of their own property, SC said it is a serious issue if people with bonafide reasons are denied another chance. It said the RBI can look to allow exemptions through issuance of a circular.
The Centre, in return, has said the rules are geared to allow exemptions only to a class of people, not individuals. However, it will consider the question of relief, if any can be permitted. The main issue that moved the court was “Can the government be denied access to their own property,that is,their money?”
A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, to take instructions on the issue. “There can be a situation where a person has lost his/her money for no fault. Suppose a person was in jail during the period… We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons,” the bench said. The solicitor general then sought time to seek instructions for granting an opportunity to persons to deposit their money on a case-by-case basis
The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by 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 the RBI.
The Central government had on November 8 last year announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender from November 9.
The government also assured the people at the time 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. But it denied this option later when it promulgated the Specified Bank Notes Cessation of Liabilities Ordinance which the petitioner said had breached the assurance. The Ordinance said only those who were abroad, armed forces personnel posted in remote areas or others who could give valid reasons for not being able to deposit the cancelled notes at banks could deposit demonetised notes till March 31 this year after the deadline expired on December 30, 2016. The Centre had come out with the Ordinance making possession of a large number of scrapped notes a penal offence attracting a monetary fine.
Verdict on the matter is expected on July 18 after the summer vacation.
