Supreme Court asks government and RBI, if objectives related to demonetisation were achieved?
While looking back at the events of demonetisation, there was no clear story, so 58 petitions were filed challenging demonetisation. Considering a huge number of petitions filed against it, the Supreme Court decided to take the matter further.
There are multiple articles on the internet which dug into this matter and I would suggest you to go through them to get the deconstructed knowledge about the case. However, in this article, I will share point to point issues that surfaced upon taking the case further:
1. Mere Notification
Demonetisation has happened before in 1946 and 1978 which were implemented through proper Acts debated by Parliament. However, in 2016, it happened by simply issuing a notification under provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
2. “Horrendous Consequences”
The consequences of this practice were horrible as people stood in lines for hours to exchange their old currency with the new one. Bank notes amounting 2,300 crore were taken off the market while the press could print only 300 crore rupees which means it would take 7 months to fix this money flow practically.
3. Everyone at Loss
As it was a sowing season, the farming community faced a huge loss and they did not have money to buy anything to continue their work which included fertiliser, seeds, or hire labour. Markets were shut, industries were halted and every work place requiring consistent flow of money faced a death-like pause.
4. Labour
Since every kind of work came to a halt, more than 15 crores of labour class workers were out of work. If some of them were lucky to have work, they were unsure about their wages and so many of them worked without getting a penny.
5. Hasty Decision
As mentioned in the title, the entire demonetisation was a 24 hour affair. Government sent a letter to RBI on November 7 asking its recommendation on the topic. RBI responded to the letter on November 8 and our Prime Minister announced the news on television at 8 P.M. on the same day.
6. Unfair Ruling
Under Section 7(1)(c), the RBI Board is supposed to bring 10 independent directors to such meetings but here we had only 3 on November 8, 2016. The meeting in the Cabinet Room was going on and within minutes of acceptance of demonetisation, it was notified to the public on television while these 3 people waited for the PM to return.
7. 86.4% of the Currency
Point number 5 and 6 express the seriousness of the government towards the topic where 86.4% of the entire Indian currency was being exchanged. Can you even imagine how huge this change is? There is no need to imagine because we have lived it and now we know the planning behind this huge change.
8. 0.0027 Per Cent
The objective of demonetisation was to take out Indian currency that is not in use or is fake while replacing worthless currency in hyperinflation. However, after taking out more than 85% of the currency and making life hard for the biggest section of population, only 0.0027 per cent of individual fake currency notes were found as per the RBI’s annual report.
Conclusion
You might be shocked after reading these points but what’s more shocking is that not after months of demonetisation, fake 2000 currency notes were found involved in terror funding and on the dead bodies of terrorists.
Was this step really worth doing? Or did it just put people out of their jobs, reducing them to standing in line for hours everyday to exchange their currency notes while people with black money shifted it in the comfort of their AC?
Also Read:
Here’s What People Have To Say About Anurag Kashyap’s Take On Demonetisation With Netflix Film Choked
