A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will pronounce on January 2 its verdict on nearly three dozen petitions on the government’s 2016 notification to ban currency notes of Rs500 and Rs1000.
The bench reserved its verdict on December 7 after hearing elaborate arguments from the government and the petitioners who have contended that the demonetisation decision was arbitrary, unconstitutional and contrary to the powers and procedure prescribed under the Reserve Bank of India Act. The top court, which is currently closed for the winter recess, will reopen on January 2.
A note in the Supreme Court’s list of cases for the said the judgment will be rendered by Justice BR Gavai for the bench, which indicates that the verdict may be unanimous. The bench also comprises justices S Abdul Nazeer, AS Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian and BV Nagarathna. As the bench concluded hearing the arguments on whether the government followed due procedure provided under the RBI Act before undertaking a massive exercise to withdraw over 86% of the currency from circulation on November 8, 2016, the court also directed the ministry of finance and the Reserve Bank of India to produce the relevant files leading to the decision. The government undertook demonetisation under Section 26 (2) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934. The provision empowers the government to declare that “any series of bank notes of any denomination shall cease to be legal tender” after a recommendation from the central board of RBI.