In a big relief to those who failed to deposit demonetised notes by December 31, 2016 owing to some genuine reasons, the Supreme Court today asked the central government to consider giving all such people ‘another chance’ to deposit old high-denomination notes.
Coming down heavily on the government for setting a deadline for depositing demonetised currency, the apex court observed that if a person has some genuine reason for not being able to deposit old notes within that deadline, he can’t be left to suffer.
A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, to take instructions on the issue.
"One cannot make people suffer if they have genuine reasons, they should be allowed to deposit old notes", news agency ANI quoted the bench as saying.
"You cannot trash a person's genuine hard-earned money and let it go waste like this... you had promised them a window, now you can't go back on your word to those who had genuine difficulty," the Supreme Court added.
“There can be a situation where a person has lost his/her money for no fault. Suppose a person was in jail during the period... We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons,” the bench said.
The Supreme Court made these observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate Sudha Mishra and others seeking a direction from the apex court in this matter.
The apex court asked both the Central government as well as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), whether a window can be provided to the people who could not deposit their old Rs. 500 and 1,000 currency notes within the deadline.
The Central government told the division bench of the Supreme Court that it would soon file an affidavit in this case.
The Supreme Court asked the central government to respond within two weeks on this matter.
The Narendra Modi government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8 and gave citizens time until December 31 to return their old currency notes.
A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, to take instructions on the issue.
“There can be a situation where a person has lost his/her money for no fault. Suppose a person was in jail during the period... We want to know as to why you chose to bar such persons,” the bench said.
