New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre’s response on issues like whether district cooperative banks could be allowed to accept deposits in demonetised notes with some stringent regulations and why banks are unable to allow minimum weekly withdrawals of Rs 24,000 to customers.
The hearing, in which the Centre accused some advocates of politicising the issue in the garb of the public interest litigation, also witnessed the bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur expressing dismay over lawyers breaching decorum of the court by out-shouting each other. While the high-decibel hearing was on, the bench, also comprising Justices A.M. Khan-wilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, said though demonetisation has been carried with long term beneficial aims, its immediate concern was to ease the problems of the people and asked A-G to apprise it on issues relating to cooperative banks.
Centre plans to roll out plastic currency
With demonetisation having created a major cash crunch across the country, the Centre on Friday informed Parliament that a decision has been taken to print plastic currency notes and for which procurement of material has started.
“It has been decided to print banknotes based on plastic or polymer substrate. The process of procurement has been initiated,” minister of state for finance Arjun Ram Meghwal told Lok Sabha.
The RBI for long has been planning to launch plastic currency note after field trials. In February 2014, the Centre told Parliament that one billion plastic notes of Rs 10 denomination would be introduced in a trial in five cities.
