The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a writ petition challenging the notification issued by the Union Government on November 8, 2016, demonetising the Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes.
The petition was filed by M Seeni Ahmed, General Secretary, Indian National league, an Islamic political outfit in Tamil Nadu. The division Bench of Justices S Nagamuthu and MV Muralidharan, which heard the petitioner represented by MA Jinnah, dismissed the plea following the submission made by GR Swaminathan, the young Assistant Solicitor-General of India.
The Justices noted that a similar demonetising measure has been already upheld by the Supreme Court in 1996 in the Jayantilal Ratanchand Shah vs Reserve Bank Of India and others case.
The court also said that the Union Government has the power under Section 26(2) of the Reserve Bank of India Act to demonetise. “Moreover, the power of Judicial review is limited in matters concerning economic policy. The President as well as the Prime Minister have set out the reasons as to why such measures became imperative,” said the Bench.
Though the common man may face some temporary inconvenience and hardship, considering the larger national interest, the notification stands sustained, said the court.
Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, the response to the demonetisation of the high value currency notes was subdued. Traders, especially shops dealing with household articles reported the usual quantum of business. “Because of Diwali, most of the households had completed their purchases in advance. Hence the daily turnout remained normal,” said Ganapathy, a shopkeeper in one of the Chennai suburbs.
Responding to the criticism of some of the major political parties like the DMK and the Congress, M Razzack, president, Hindustan Chamber of Commerce, one of the oldest trade bodies in India, said the public faced some crisis. “But there can be no surgery without any pain. It is a temporary crisis which will pass without hardship. The decision to demonetise the high value currency notes is the boldest decision taken by the Centre since 1947,” said Razzack.
Dominic Dorairaj, a leading foreign exchange dealer in Chennai, said there was a crisis like situation on Wednesday as the Government decision came all of sudden.
“But by Thursday morning, it was business as usual. Most of our clients operate with credit and debit cards and hence there is no confusion or chaos,” said Dorairaj, who also rejected the theory that the common man was put into difficulties because of the action. “I understand the Prime Minister himself told that there would be some hiccups for one or two days. So there is no element of crisis ,” he added.