Note ban: There will be riots, Supreme Court warns government

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday warned the Centre of “riots in the streets” if the difficulties being faced and braved by people in obtaining cash are not addressed at the earliest.

“This is very serious. This will require great consideration. People have become frantic for money, people are affected. We will have riots in the streets,” observed Chief Justice T.S. Thakur. The two-judge bench, which included Justice Anil R. Dave, refused to stay the petitions pending in various high courts challenging demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as sought by attorney general Mukul Rohatgi. Mr Rohatgi, who was appearing for the Centre, submitted to the court that there is no crisis or tension in the country.

“That is completely wrong. People are patiently standing in lines,” he said.

The CJI, however, contradicted him sharply and said, “People are frantic. From newspaper reports we know the inconvenience and difficulty faced by public. Please don’t dispute it. We also got to know that you have reduced the old currency exchange limit to Rs 2,000 from Rs 4,500. We had asked you to give them relief but you have squeezed them further.             

Don’t you have sufficient notes? Is the difficulty in the printing part?”

The AG acknowledged that there is a shortage of Rs 100 notes as the now defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes totalled 86 per cent of the currency in circulation before November 8. He said the difficulty was not just printing but also transportation of notes to banks and post offices, as well as recalibration of ATMs.

Explaining the measures taken by the government, Mr Rohatgi said the withdrawal limit has been enhanced to Rs 2.50 lakh for weddings and farmers will get Rs 25,000.

“We have started measures where people can swipe their cards at petrol pumps and withdraw Rs 2,000,” he said, and added, “We are monitoring the situation. Would we be issuing notifications by the day, by the hour, if we were not concerned about the people’s problems? The length of the lines are reducing by the day.”

On cases being filed across the country, the CJI observed that “People have started becoming frantic for money, braving queues for hours. The very fact that cases are being filed in courts all over is a signal that the problem is serious and of magnitude. They are going to the courts for relief. We cannot shut our doors to the people. We can only consider transferring the cases to one high court, viz Delhi high court. You file a proper petition for that.”

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, said, “Forty-seven people have died after November 8, as an after-effect of the demonetisation. Only people with Mercedes can afford to swipe their cards at petrol bunks, not farmers. 800 crore people in this country earn less than Rs 10,000 a month. That is not black money. A family walked 20 kilometer from Bastar to an ICICI bank branch.” He also informed the court that 23 lakh crore notes have to be printed, currency worth Rs 14 lakh crore is frozen and that, from November 8, only about Rs 9 lakh crore is in circulation.

Questioning the AG’s contention, Mr Sibal said, “What lies inside ATMs and banks is people’s legitimate money and they are struggling to get it. Under what law can they be stopped from withdrawing their own money? Banks are just trustees of the money. The situation is serious, cash economy is being frozen, people are unable to buy anything. Only 75,000 out of two lakh ATMs are working. People in remote areas of the country don’t have ATMs or banks.”

These submissions provoked the AG and he accused Mr Sibal of politicising court proceedings because of his affiliation with the Congress Party. “You are bringing politics into court room. I heard you in the press conference yesterday. You are speaking the same language here in court on demonetisation. If you want, let your party file a petition,” the AG told Mr Sibal.

Taking exception to the insinuation, Mr Sibal said the government is inept and clueless about handling the situation that has arisen because of the ill-planned demonetisation.

“Was my press conference held inside a courtroom? Why are you bringing that here? I have freedom of speech to criticise government policies. I am talking here about the problem faced by people not politics,” Mr Sibal retorted.

The bench asked Mr Sibal to put down his suggestions and problems by substantiating his charges and posted the matter for further hearing on November 25.