The constitution bench of supreme court will hear on December 5 the pleas challenging the center’s decision to demonetize currency note of Rs 500, and 1000 in 2016.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice S A Nazeer is hearing a batch of 58 petitions challenging the demonetization exercise.
On 16 November the Centre had filed an affidavit the demonetization exercise was a “well-considered” decision and part of a larger strategy to combat the menace of fake money, terror financing, black money and tax evasion.
Defending its decision to demonetize currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations, the Centre had told the supreme court the step was taken after extensive consultation with the Reserve Bank of India and advance preparations were made before the note ban was enforced.
The government had said that demonetization was therefore done in accordance with the powers and procedure vested in the law. This has been accepted positively by the Parliament by passing the Demonetization Act 2017. As such, the challenge to the notification has no merit. The government said that demonetization was a conscious decision. For this, a lot of consultations and preparations were done with RBI.
Earlier the Supreme Court had asked the government a question regarding its constitutional validity. A 5-judge constitution bench had sought answers from the Center and the Reserve Bank of India on the decision of demonetisation. The court had asked the Center and the RBI to file a comprehensive affidavit regarding the decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
