Madras High Court dismisses plea against note ban notification

Chennai: Barely a fortnight left to exchange demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, the Madras high court has dismissed a PIL challenging the notification effecting demonetisation of the higher value currencies.  Dismissing the petition filed by an advocate, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M. Sundar found fault with the language used by the advocate while referring to an order passed by a Madurai bench of Madurai high court dated November 10, 2016 on the demonetisation issue.

The petitioner, Suchitra Vijayan, submitted that the ill-considered decision of the Central Government resulted in extreme hardship for the common man and livelihoods of daily wage labourers and informal workers. Over eight crore people stood in front of the bank daily and another five crore in front of ATMs to exchange their legal tender. This was a clear case of negligence by the government, which failed to follow statutory procedures in issuing the notification on November 8, 2016.

The government failed to assess the effects of demonetization diligently and failed to prepare the country for one of the biggest policy implementations in its banking history. The method of implementation and the confusion that followed narrates a story of abdication of fundamental responsibility to govern.

The government’s decision to purge the bank notes should have implemented by an Act of Parliament and not by a notification under the RBI Act. She sought a direction to declare the notification as illegal and ultra virus. The bench said it is not inclined to entertain this petition. Also, SC is seized of this issue, it said.