Guwahati: The Supreme Court rejected the arguments against the 2016 demonetisation and upheld the Centre’s decision to demonetise the 500 and 1000 rupee notes on Monday.
A constitutional court panel made up of S Abdul Nazeer, BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian, and BV Nagarathna ruled that the proportionality argument could not be used to invalidate the demonetization of currency.
Justice Gavai pronouncing the verdict said, “We find that the three purposes are proper purposes and there was a reasonable nexus between the objects and the means to achieve the objects. Action cannot to be struck down on the basis of the doctrine of proportionality.”
The supreme court reserved decisions on the 58 petitions on December 7.
The Centre and Reserve Bank of India were earlier ordered to bring the documents related to the 2016 demonetisation decision before the supreme court in a sealed envelope.
It had stated that it had the authority to look into how the decision to demonetize currency had been made, adding that the judiciary could not simply sit back and do nothing because it was an economic policy choice.
When the Reserve Bank of India’s attorney argued that judicial review cannot be used to determine economic policy, the highest court made its comments.
The aim of the demonetisation policy, according to the RBI, was to combat counterfeit money and black money.
According to Attorney General R. Venkatramani, the economic policy of demonetisation was linked to a social policy that tried to address three evils.