Criticising the compulsion to regularly change features of currency notes and coins, the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the RBI to file an affidavit within two weeks explaining the reasons behind the same, The Indian Express reported. The court also noted that when demonetisation has already exposed the RBI’s argument that change in features is needed since fake currency is in circulation, what’s the compulsion to do such. The matter will be taken up in three weeks’ time, the court also said. “You [government] keep saying it is because of fake currency,” a bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice NM Jamdar said. “I doubt that reason. Demonetisation showed that it was a myth that Rs 10,000 crore were taken away by Pakistan,” the bench added.
The court issued the direction while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to make bank notes and coins easily identifiable for the visually impaired people. The central bank had told the court in its last hearing that an expert panel has been established to look into the possibility of developing a device which may aid the visually impaired in identifying the currency notes.
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The government brought about some changes in Rs 50, Rs 10, Rs 20 and even Rs 100 notes in the recent past. In November 2016, the Modi government had come out with a demonetisation or note ban decision which stopped circulation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes overnight. The government had then argued that it was a move to curb black money and fake notes. However, the RBI had later said that over 99 per cent of the demonetised banknotes in circulation before note ban returned to it. The announcement of noteban was followed by extended cash shortages in the weeks that followed, which created significant disruption throughout the economy.