Urjit Patel fails to give specific number for demonetised notes returned

New Delhi: In a meeting with the parliamentary committee on Wednesday, RBI governor Urjit Patel said the number of scrapped notes returned post demonetisation was still being counted.

This statement came in response to a question raised by a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. The committee will present its report on demonetization in the upcoming Monsoon Session and Patel will not be summoned to address the note ban issue, said committee head M Veerappa Moily.

In the meeting which lasted more than three hours, the central bank chief faced a lot of questions from the members. However, members expressed displeasure over Patel failing to provide any "specific number" on the amount of money returned to the banking system post the note ban in November, 2016.

The committee, had on January 18 questioned Patel about the decision of demonetisation. Patel had told the members that he would submit a statement on the amount of money that came back into the system post the November 8 move.

The panel had called Patel on May 25 and June 28 to discuss the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes but the RBI governor had sought exemptions which were granted.

After the meeting, a senior member of the committee said the governor did not provide any figure but gave details on remonetisation.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also present at the meeting, did not question the governor. It was he who had rescued Patel from a grilling questioning session during the January meeting. Singh had intervened the series of pricking questions tosay that the reserve bank and the governor's position as an institution should be respected by all.