Ashok Chavan seeks judicial probe of cash seizures

Congress in Maharashtra today demanded judicial probe into the cases where demonetised currency worth crores of rupees was seized from persons and institutions connected to the ruling BJP.
State Congress president Ashok Chavan said scrapped notes worth crores of rupees were seized from private vehicle of Maharashtra Co-operation Minister Subhash Deshmukh. Old notes belonging to Vaidyanath Co-op Bank (controlled by BJP MP Pritam Munde) were seized in the last few days.
He also cited examples of dubious transactions allegedly involving BJP leaders in Gujarat, West Bengal and Bihar, before and after the demonetisation.
"We don't expect the government to investigate these cases. So the judiciary should take suo moto notice of the developments since demonetisation and order a probe," he said.

As the 50-day period -- which the Prime Minister had said would be needed for things to normalise -- was ending, banks should lift restrictions on cash withdrawals, he demanded.
After the demonetisation flopped, government started promoting cashless economy for the benefit of foreign firms which are in the business of digital payment, he alleged.

Congress wanted a white paper on demonetisation, giving
information about amount of black money unearthed, losses in terms of unemployment and financial setbacks, how many people died outside banks and ATMs, names of persons who deposited Rs 25 lakh after demonetisation, who did government consult before demonetisation, etc., Chavan said.

The former Chief Minister said Congress had also demanded that government deposit Rs 25,000 in the bank accounts of women from BPL category, give bonus on minimum support price to farmers and pay 18 per cent interest to bank customers.
From January 2, Congress will launch a state-wide agitation to highlight the failure of demonetisation, he said.
The program will include 'ghanta-naad' (bell ringing) agitation on January 8, while there would be a national convention in Delhi on January 11 to discuss fall-out of demonetisation and performance of Modi government, he said.
Asked whether Congress will enter into alliance for the coming Zilla Parishad and Municipal Corporation polls, Chavan said this decision had been left to local leadership.

To the question whether Congress would seek support of Shiv Sena which is also against demonetisation, Chavan said his party would consider it only if Sena pulled out of the government.
Commenting on state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve's campaign statement that voters "should accept Laxmi" before elections, Chavan said it was sufficient to establish that BJP won recent municipal council polls on money-power.