SC no to stay on pleas against demonetisation, issues notices

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay proceedings on pleas against demonetisation pending in various high courts and subordinate courts and issued notices on the Centre's plea for transfer of these cases to the apex court or any high court.

The notices were issued to 10 persons on the Centre's plea for the transfer of these pending petitions on the ground that the proceedings in different courts were creating difficulties.

These 10 petitioners had approached the High Courts of Delhi, Bombay, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Calcutta and Rajasthan to challenge the Centre's November 8 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. In one instance, a person moved a civil court in Mumbai.

While issuing the notices, a bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice L. Nageswara Rao declined to stay for now the proceedings on these pleas.

The court directed for the hearing of the matter on December 2.

Recalling that in the course of hearing of the Centre's plea last time, the court had suggested that all the cases could be transferred to Delhi High Court, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi urged the apex court to stay the proceedings on the pleas sought to be transferred.

Rohatgi said the transfer plea concerned 10 cases. The court was told that it may be approached for the transfer of another 15 cases.

The Attorney General told the court that all kinds of cases are being filed to seek different reliefs.

The government told the apex court that demonetised notes totalling Rs six lakh crore have been collected so far and the figure was expected to reach Rs 10 lakh crore.

Rohatgi said the demonetisation decision was targeted at removing "slush money" of the last 70 years. The court was told that a committee was monitoring the situation across the country on a daily and even hourly basis.

The court earlier asked how much money had been collected by the government since the November 8 demonetisation.

Answering a query from the bench, the Attorney General said the banks are flush with money and the Indian economy will revive. He said the interest rates will also come down.

He told the bench that cash transactions the world over were four per cent as against India's 12 per cent. He said that this should come down.

--IANS

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