HC to hear pleas against Rs 2,000 notes on Dec 15

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday posted, for December 15, hearing on the pleas seeking withdrawal of the newly introduced Rs 2,000 notes and rollback of demonetisation.

A division Bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal listed the matters for December 15 after it was informed that Supreme Court would hear the pleas against demonetisation move of the central government.

The Supreme Court is seized with the petition of the Union government seeking a stay on proceedings before various high courts and other courts against government’s decision to demonetise high-value currency notes. The high court has been two different PILS challenging different provisions of the demonetisation decision.

One of the pleas filed in high court by Pooja Mahajan, a Delhi-based fashion designer, said the decision was “arbitrary and unconstitutional”.

The petition said that on November 8, the central government issued two notifications under the RBI Act.

By the first notification, the high value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 were banned and by the second notification, the notes were revalidated for certain categories like making payments in government hospitals, pharmacies, railway ticketing counters etc., said the plea.

These two notifications run contrary to each other, the second notification superseded the first notification, and hence the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes must be accepted as legal tender, the petition added. The petition challenged the constitutionality and validity of the issuance of Rs 2,000 notes by the government contending that the notification directing the issuance of the Rs 2,000 notes is bad in law because under Section 24(2), no such notification for issuing/circulating bank notes can be passed.