New Delhi: The government notification on demonetisation was “unlawful” and the process of banning all currency notes of ₹ 1,000 and ₹ 500 could not have been initiated by the Centre, justice BV Nagarathna said today in her strong dissent after a Supreme Court Constitution bench, with 4:1 majority, upheld the demonetisation decision by the Narendra Modi-led Centre. She called the November 8, 2016 notification of the Centre “unlawful” and agreed with the petitioners challenging the notification, that as per section 26 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, the central board of the RBI should have independently recommended demonetisation, and it should not have been done through the advice of the government. There was no independent application of mind by the RBI, she held.
“In my considered view, action of demonetisation by November 8 notification was unlawful. But status quo ante cannot be restored now since it was in 2016,” she said, adding that demonetisation was “an exercise of power, contrary to law, and therefore unlawful”.

The manner in which it was implemented was not in accordance with law, she said, adding that she is not questioning the ‘noble objectives’ of the exercise itself, but only the legal viewpoint.

“Demonetisation was, beyond a pale of doubt, well-intentioned. Best intention and noble objects are not under question. The measure has been regarded as unlawful only on a purely legal analysis, and not on the objects of demonetisation,” she said, further calling the decision “well-intentioned and well thought of”. It targeted evils such as black money, terror funding, and counterfeiting, she added.

The crux of the argument by petitioners was “as per RBI Act, recommendation for demonetisation should originate from the board of the Reserve Bank of India” but in this case, Centre wrote a letter to RBI on November 7 advising for such a recommendation, she said.

Justice Nagarathna also held that, like previous instances, Demonetisation could have been initiated through an Act of Parliament and not by an executive notification.

“After perusing the documents and records submitted by Centre and RBI, phrases like “as desired by Centre government” shows there was no independent application of mind by RBI,” Justice Nagarathna said.

The majority opinion was that the Centre is required to act in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and there is an “inbuilt safeguard”. The four judges noted that there was consultation between the two for six months.

Fifty-eight petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the notes ban, arguing that it was not a considered decision of the government and should be struck down by the court.

The government had argued that the court cannot decide a matter when no tangible relief can be granted. It would be like “putting the clock back” or “unscrambling a scrambled egg”, the centre said.

NEW DELHI, Jan 2: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the decision of the Central government taken in 2016 to demonetise the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations.
A five-judge Constitution bench dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes and said the decision, being the Executive’s economic policy, cannot be reversed.
Supreme Court bench said: “There was consultation between the Centre and the RBI on before demonetisation. There was a reasonable nexus to bring such a measure, and we hold that the doctrine of proportionality did not hit demonetisation.”
The apex court had reserved its judgments on the batch of 58 petitions on December 7.
Earlier, it had asked the Centre and Reserve Bank of India to place before it the records pertaining to the 2016 demonetisation decision in a sealed envelope.
It had said that it has the power to examine the manner in which the decision for demonetisation was taken adding that “the judiciary cannot fold its hands and sit just because it is an economic policy decision”.
The top court’s remarks came when the Reserve Bank of India counsel made the submission that judicial review cannot apply to economic policy decisions.
The RBI had told the apex court about the objective of the demonetisation policy to curb black money and fake currencies.
Attorney General R Venkatramani had said that the economic policy of demonetisation was connected to a social policy where three evils are attempted to be addressed. (Agencies)

India has asked Pakistan to release and repatriate 631 Indian fishermen and two civilian prisoners who have completed their jail-term and whose nationality has been confirmed. In addition, Islamabad has also been urged to provide immediate consular access to the remaining 30 fishermen and 22 civilian prisoners who have been in Pakistan’s custody and are believed to be Indian, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. India made the request in the context of the exchange of the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen by both the countries as part of a practice to do so on January 1 and July 1 of every calendar year under the framework of a 2008 pact.
The MEA said Pakistan has been requested to ensure the “safety, security and welfare of all Indian and believed-to-be Indian civilian prisoners and fishermen, pending their release and repatriation to India”. The MEA said India shared lists of 339 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 95 Pakistani fishermen currently in Indian custody. India and Pakistan yesterday exchanged, through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in their custody, MEA said in a statement. It said the government has called for early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners, missing Indian defence personnel, and fishermen along with their boats, from Pakistan’s custody.

New Delhi: India recorded 265 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, according to a statement from the ministry of health and family welfare on Sunday.
The number of recoveries stood at 1,209 in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall recovery rate to 98.8 per cent.

India’s active caseload is currently at 2,706 and the daily positivity rate is 0.17 per cent, according to the data from the ministry.