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SC Refuses Urgent Listing Of Plea Challenging RBI Decision On Rs 2,000 Banknote Exchange

A vacation bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K V Vishwanathan took note of the submissions for urgent hearing of lawyer Ashwini Updhyay, and said it will not be taking up such pleas during the summer vacation.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>The backside of the  2000 rupee note.</p></div>
The backside of the 2000 rupee note.

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, refused to list for urgent hearing a plea challenging the notifications enabling the exchange of Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes without any requisition slip or ID proof.

A vacation bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K. V. Vishwanathan took note of the submissions for urgent hearing by lawyer Ashwini Updhyay and said it would not be taking up such pleas during the summer vacation.

"We are not taking up these kinds of cases during the summer vacation," the bench said, adding the plea can be mentioned before a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India.

Seeking urgent listing of the plea, the lawyer said the Rs 2000 banknotes are being exchanged without any requisition slip or ID proof like an Aadhaar card by criminals and terrorists as well.

In a short span of time, Rs 50,000 crore has been exchanged in banks by returning banknotes of Rs 2000 denomination, he claimed, adding the delay in hearing would lead to the exchange of all black money in banks.

Updhyay has filed an appeal in the top court against the May 29 decision of the Delhi High Court dismissing his PIL challenging the notifications by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the State Bank of India (SBI) allowing exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes without having to furnish any document.

On May 19, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation and said existing notes in circulation could either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged by Sept. 30.

The bank notes in the Rs 2,000 denomination will, however, continue to be legal tender, the RBI said in a statement.

In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of the regular activities of bank branches, the RBI said the exchange of Rs 2,000 notes into bank notes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting May 23.