New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today informed the Delhi High Court that withdrawal of ₹2000 notes is not demonetisation but a legal action and the decision to replace them has been taken for operational convenience.
The court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay that the RBI and SBI announcements to exchange ₹2000 notes without proof were arbitrary and against laws enacted to curb corruption.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramaniam Prasad said it would pass an appropriate order on the lawyer’s public interest litigation.

“We will consider it. We will pass an appropriate order,” the court said.

Mr Upadhyay clarified that he was not challenging the decision to withdraw the ₹2000 note and attacked the exchange of currency without any slip or identity proof.

He insisted that 2000 rupee notes should be allowed to be deposited in the bank account and exchanged.

“Why is identity proof excluded? Every poor person has a Jandhan account. PPL people are also linked to bank accounts,” said Mr Upadhyay, adding that the current arrangement would only help mafias and gangs like “Atiq Ahmed’s henchmen” and Maoists. .

Senior advocate Parag P Tripathi, appearing for the Reserve Bank, asserted that the court cannot interfere in such matters and the decision was taken to allow the exchange of the ₹2000 note for operational convenience.

“It is not demonetisation. ₹2000 notes are not in general use. Other denominations meet the currency requirements,” he said.

“This is a legal proceeding. None of the points sought by the petitioner are barred or deal with constitutional issues,” Mr Tripathi added.

“Arguments heard. Judgment reserved,” the court said after hearing arguments.

In his petition, the petitioner contended that the RBI and SBI’s notifications to exchange ₹2000 notes without demand slip and identity proof were arbitrary, irrational and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

A large amount of currency has arrived in the individual’s locker or has been “hoarded by separatists, terrorists, Maoists, drug traffickers, mining mafias and corrupt people,” the petition said.

The petition states that high-value currency transactions are a major source of corruption and are used for illegal activities like terrorism, Naxalism, separatism, extremism, gambling, smuggling, money laundering, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and dowry. RBI and SBI should ensure that Rs 2000 notes are deposited only in their respective bank accounts.

“Recently, the central government announced that every household should have an Aadhaar card and a bank account. So why is RBI allowing ₹ 2000 notes to be exchanged without getting an identity proof? It is also important to mention that 80 crore PPL households are getting free food grains. 80 crore Indians are getting ₹ 2,000 rupees.” The petitioner has also demanded that RBI and SBI be directed to take steps to ensure that ₹2000 notes are deposited only in bank accounts.

Depositing Rs 2000 notes in bank accounts will help identify people with black money and disproportionate assets, the petition said.

On May 19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the withdrawal of ₹ 2,000 currency notes from circulation and said that existing notes can be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged by September 30.

2,000 rupee notes will continue to be legal tender, the RBI said in a statement.

To ensure operational convenience and avoid disruption to regular operations of bank branches, bank notes starting at ₹ 2,000 can be exchanged into bank notes of other denominations up to ₹ 20,000 at a time, RBI said. From May 23.

State Bank of India (SBI) has informed the Chief General Managers of all local head offices that the facility of exchanging ₹2,000 notes up to ₹20,000 at a time without any demand will be allowed to the public. Slip away.

“Also, the tenderer is not required to submit any identity proof at the time of transfer,” the notification dated May 20 said.