Another PIL in Delhi HC against move to withdraw Rs 2,000 note

Another PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court challenging the Reserve Bank of India’s recent decision to withdraw `2,000 banknotes from circulation. It termed the decision of withdrawal of the banknote only after 4-5 years of circulation within a specific deadline as “unjust, arbitrary and against the public policy”.

The PIL filed by advocate Rajneesh Bhaskar Gupta stated RBI has no independent power under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, to direct the non-issue or the discontinuance of issue of banknotes of any denominational values and the said power is vested only with the Central Government under section 24 (2) of the RBI Act.

The HC on Tuesday reserved its order in another PIL by lawyer-activist Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay challenging the exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes without any requisition slip or submission of identity proof.


Gupta in his PIL said no other reason except ‘Clean Note Policy’ has been given by the RBI to take such a “big arbitrary decision” of withdrawing the banknotes from circulation “without analysing the expected problems of the public at large”. “As per the provision of clean note policy of RBI, damaged, counterfeit, or soiled banknote is given by the RBI in circulation,” Gupta said, adding that crores have been spent on the printing of Rs 2,000 notes.