NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition challenging a Delhi high court order which had upheld the Reserve Bank of India’s decision not to seek identity proof of persons while depositing the to-be-scrapped Rs 2,000 currency notes in banks in exchange for the value in currency notes of smaller denominations.
Refusing to entertain a special leave petition by Ashwini Upadhyay, who unsuccessfully challenged in Delhi HC the mode of deposition of Rs 2,000 currency notes, a bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said that it is purely a policy decision and possibly meant to ensure faith in the currency.
When Upadhyay said the decision is unprecedented as even for depositing Rs 100 in a bank account one needs to fill requisition slip, the bench said, “There are many things that happen for the first time.”
The CJI said, “Look at it from another perspective. When a person goes to a grocery store with a Rs 500 currency note, does the store manager seek identity proof or ask the person to give details of the acquisition of that currency note? What you are asking may be desirable but not legally mandatory.”
Upadhyay had said permitting deposition of Rs 2,000 currency notes without identity proof is an invitation to wrong doers to make the ill-gotten or black money white.