New Delhi: The apex court dismissed the petitions filed against the Centre’s 2016 demonetisation decision and upheld the Centre’s move. The court upheld the Centre’s 2016 demonetisation decision by a majority of 4:1.
The apex court said the notification issued on November 8, 2016, was valid and sub-judice. Justice B R Gavai of the Supreme Court said there cannot be any flaw in the Centre’s decision on demonetisation as the matter was discussed earlier between the RBI and the government.
Therefore, it does not matter much whether the purpose for which demonetisation was done was achieved or not. On the issue of powers of the Centre under Section 26(2) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, Justice B V Nagarathna’s opinion was different from that of Justice B R Gavai.
Justice Nagarathna said that the series of notes of 500 and 1000 rupees could have been canceled only by law and not by notification.
“Parliament should have discussed the law on demonetisation, the process should not have been done through gazette notification. Parliament cannot be set aside in such an important matter for the country.