'Unscrambling a Scrambled Egg': Arguments So Far in SC on Pleas Against Demonetisation

The Supreme Court will deliver a verdict on demonetisation today. The D-day comes months after the apex court heard a batch of petitions against note ban. The verdict will be announced by a five-judge constitution bench of the court.

The Supreme Court was hearing a batch of 58 petitions challenging the demonetisation exercise announced by the Centre on November 8, 2016.

“Deeply Flawed” to “Unscrambling a Scrambled Egg”: A Look At The Arguments, Counter-arguments Made in Court

>>Attorney General R Venkataramani is the RBI’s counsel in the matter, while the the petitioners’ lawyers include senior advocates P Chidambaram and Shyam Divan.

>> Chidambaram had said the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes  was deeply flawed. He had argued that the government cannot on its own initiate any proposal relating to legal tender, which can only be done on the recommendation of the RBI’s central board.

>> Resisting Supreme Court’s attempt to revisit the 2016 demonetisation exercise, the government had said the court cannot decide a matter when no tangible relief can be granted by way of “putting the clock back” and “unscrambling a scrambled egg”.

>> Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier admitted in its submissions that there were “temporary hardships” and that those, too, are an integral part of the nation-building process, but there was a mechanism by which the problems that arose were solved.

>>  In an affidavit, Centre told SC that the demonetisation exercise was a “well-considered” decision and part of a larger strategy to combat the menace of fake money, terror financing, black money and tax evasion.

Constitution Bench To Deliver Verdict

The verdicts will be given by the Constitution bench, headed by Justice S A Nazeer, who is set to retire on January 4.  On December 7, the court directed the Centre and RBI to put on record the relevant records relating to the government’s 2016 decision and reserved its verdict.

The bench, also comprising justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian and B V Nagarathna, had heard the submissions of Attorney General R Venkataramani, the RBI’s counsel and the petitioners’ lawyers, including senior advocates P Chidambaram and Shyam Divan.

(With inputs from PTI)