Delhi HC refuses to go into correctness of demonetisation decision

The court refused to pass any express direction on the cap on daily withdrawal limits for amounts deposited before the Nov 8

The division bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice V K Rao of the Delhi High Court on Friday said it would not look into the correctness of the Centre's policy on demonetisation, as the issue was already under consideration in the Supreme Court.

The court also refused to pass any express direction on the cap on daily withdrawal limits for amounts deposited before the November 8 demonetisation decision, as the notification under challenge stood terminated on midnight of November 24.

The observations by the bench came after submissions made by Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, who informed the court that two other high courts had already dismissed similar petitions and that the government has already come out with a new press release, amending the restrictions.

The petitioner, businessperson Ashok Sharma, had earlier stated that on account of the government's decision to restrict withdrawals, normal banking transactions had come to a grinding halt leaving people unable to carry on regular business activities, which in turn affected their right to livelihood.

Under the earlier Clause 2 (IV) of the notification, the weekly withdrawal limit from banks had been capped at Rs 20,000, while the daily limit was limited to Rs 10,000. Later, the weekly limit was increased to Rs 24,000 and the daily limit abolished.