Supreme Court verdict on pleas against demonetisation today

New Delhi, January 1

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The Supreme Court will on Monday pronounce its verdict on 58 petitions challenging the Centre’s November 8, 2016, decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination.

The verdict will be pronounced by a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Justice S Abdul Nazeer, which had on December 7 directed the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to furnish records relating to demonetisation in a sealed cover. Justice Nazeer is scheduled to retire on January 4. The Bench, which also included Justice BR Gavai, Justice AS Bopanna, Justice V Ramasubramanian and Justice BV Nagarathna, had heard detailed arguments from the Attorney General for the Centre, senior counsel Jaideep Gupta for the RBI and senior advocates P Chidambaram, Shyam Divan and others for the petitioners. According to the case list released by the top court for Monday, there will be two separate judgments—one pronounced by Justice Gavai and the other by Justice Nagarathna. It was not clear if the two judgments were concurring or dissenting.

The Centre had defended demonetisation, saying it was a major step to fight “the menace of fake currency notes, storage of unaccounted wealth and financing of subversive activities”. In an affidavit filed in response to petitions challenging demonetisation, the Ministry of Finance said it was not a “standalone or isolated economic policy action”.

However, asserting its power of judicial review, the Supreme Court had said during the hearing that it would not be a silent spectator and sit quietly with folded hands only because demonetisation was an economic policy decision.

Chidambaram had asked the Centre to come clean on the decision-making process.