Give chance to exchange old notes, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave citizens a reason to cheer after it directed the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider accepting extinguished Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on a case-to-case basis. The Centre and the RBI have been given two weeks to respond, and the matter is likely to be heard again on July 18.

Hearing petitions, the apex court directed the Centre to consider opening a window that would allow people with genuine problems to exchange the scrapped notes.

“You (Centre) cannot be allowed to deprive a person of his money if he couldn’t deposit it due to some genuine problem. What if someone is terminally ill and couldn’t deposit the money,” a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud stated.

The top court’s observation rekindled hope for those who were unable to exchange the demonetised currency within the prescribed time limit. The notes were declared void on November 8 last year, and citizens were allowed to exchange the scrapped notes till December 30. The government had further stated that those who missed the December deadline could deposit the notes at select RBI branches till March 31, 2017.

Earlier, the government had …read more