Rs 6 lakh crore deposited in banks, Centre tells Supreme Court

New Delhi: Even as the Centre asserted that there is no shortage of new currency and already Rs 6 lakh crore had been received as deposits in banks, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay all further proceedings on demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, pending in various High Courts.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi made this assertion before a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao and said the scheme was largely a success and there were less queues in the banks.

The A-G submitted that several petitions are pending in various High Courts and to avoid multiplicity of the proceedings, these petitions should be transferred either to the apex court or to any one High Court.

The CJI told the A-G “We don’t want to stay it. There are various issues. Different inconveniences are highlighted in the various cases filed across the country, may be some relief can be had by these people from the high courts.”

When the CJI asked the AG “what is the situation now, how much you have collected so far, we think you must have taken appropriate steps”, the A-G replied “the situation is much better and more than Rs 6 lakh crore has been deposited so far. There is a big surge in digital use of money transaction.”