Supreme Court rejects plea against exchange of Rs 2,000 notes without ID proof

The Supreme Court (SC) on July 10 dismissed a plea challenging the exchange of Rs 2,000 notes without proof of identity. The plea was filed by a lawyer, Ashwini Upadhyay who argued that the government's decision to allow the exchange of Rs 2,000 notes without proof of identity was unconstitutional.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha dismissed the appeal filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay in his personal capacity.

"This is the matter of executive policy decision", the bench said while dismissing the appeal.

Upadhyay, the lawyer who filed the plea, argued that the notifications by the RBI and SBI in this regard are arbitrary, irrational, and offend Articles 14 of the Constitution of India. Article 14 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to equality before the law.

He argued that the government's decision to allow the exchange of Rs 2,000 notes without proof of identity is arbitrary because it does not take into account the circumstances of each individual. He further added that the decision is irrational because it does not serve any legitimate purpose.

Senior advocate Parag Tripathi, who appeared for the RBI, argued that the constitution bench of the top court has time and again reiterated that it cannot interfere in the nation's economic policies. He said that the government has a legitimate interest in preventing the use of currency for illegal activities, and that the decision to allow the exchange of Rs 2,000 notes without proof of identity is a reasonable way to achieve this goal.

On May 29, the Delhi High Court dismissed the PIL challenging the notifications enabling the exchange of Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes without any requisition slip and ID proof.

The high court had said the decision was taken to avoid inconvenience to citizens, and that it cannot sit as an appellate authority on a policy decision.

The high court had maintained it cannot be said that the government's decision is perverse or arbitrary or it encourages black money, money laundering, profiteering or abets corruption.

An appeal was filed against the decision.

Upadhyay said the Rs 2,000 banknotes are being exchanged without any requisition slip and ID proof like Aadhaar card by criminals and terrorists also.

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