Indian Supreme Court on Friday refused to direct the government to extend the time limit for use of demonetised currency notes at government utilities such as hospitals and railway ticket counters but asked the Centre to fulfil its commitment on withdrawal of the Rs24,000 per week.
“We recommend the government to fulfil its commitment with regard to the notification on withdrawal limit,” a bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur said while hearing petitions challenging the validity of the government’s decision to scrap Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes.
It gave no relief to district co-operative banks that were not allowed to collect scrapped currency notes.
The apex court said that it won’t interfere with the government’s decision but framed nine questions and referred them to a five-judge constitution bench. It issued a notice to the government seeking a response to the questions.
The court also restrained various high courts from hearing petitions challenging demonetisation and said only the apex court would hear them.
On Thursday, the bench wondered if bank officials pocketed the new currency worth Rs5 lakh crore infused into the system and why no steps were taken to secure the money pumped in post demonetisation decision.
“So your five lakh crore has gone this way. You are not able to secure it?” the bench asked when attorney general Mukul Rohatgi admitted bank officials had indulged in fraud to divert the money.
The bench told the government’s top law officer that the people were unable to get Rs 24,000 as per a government promise.
“How are some people getting crores in new currency? How is somebody able to get so much money?” it had asked him, anxious to know the pattern of disbursement.
Opposition: Rights trampled
India's parliament ended its latest session Friday with barely any debate on a currency ban that has caused nationwide chaos, leading opposition parties to claim their democratic rights had been "trampled". Ruling and opposition politicians have traded bitter accusations of responsibility for the failure of parliament to function for almost all of the winter session.
It opened on November 16, a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a shock decision to withdraw all high-value notes from circulation, a move aimed at tackling corruption that is widely expected to hit economic growth.
In a memorandum to the president, the Congress and several other opposition parties said they were "extremely pained by this trampling of our democratic rights" and warned the currency move could bring "economic disaster".
Modi, who has made a series of public speeches justifying his currency ban, has meanwhile accused the opposition of prevented him from speaking in parliament. "I am not being allowed to speak in Lok Sabha (lower parliament house) so I am speaking in the Jan Sabha (people's gathering)," he tweeted earlier this month.
This week, India's President Pranab Mukherjee made a rare intervention, urging politicians to use the streets rather than parliament for protest.