In response to the SC’s decision on demonetization, the BJP and Cong exchange verbal blows.
Delhi, India the Bharatiya Janata Party stated on Monday that the Supreme Court’s majority decision upholding the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise the 500 and 1,000 denomination bank notes was an endorsement of the government’s right to carry out the move and of the reasons for it, despite the Congress’s contention that the court was only ruling on the correctness of the procedure followed and not on the merits of the case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party claimed on Monday that the Supreme Court‘s majority decision upholding the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise 500 and 1,000-rupee bank notes was an endorsement of the government’s right to carry out the move and of the reasons behind it, despite the Congress’s contention that the court was only ruling on the legality of the procedure followed and not the substance of the case.
“By a majority decision today, the Supreme Court rejected all 58 writ petitions that had opposed the historic demonetization programmed. It stated that the purpose of the entire operation was to stop the circulation of counterfeit money, the financing of terrorism, and illegal trade. Ravi Shankar Prasad, a senior member of the BJP and a former union minister, said the court had stated that the government had the authority to make such a policy choice and that the RBI had been consulted.
He labelled the Congress “anti-poor” for criticising the measure, which he claimed was intended to help the underprivileged. The country’s features of the informal sector were encouraged and preserved by the Congress in its own unique way.
Will Rahul Gandhi, who travelled the nation criticising the Centre’s choice on demonetisation, now apologise, he questioned, recalling the Congress’s criticism of the policy?
“The only judge who dissented also praised the policy’s noble intentions…
But the Congress had made such a fuss about the policy that Rahul Gandhi used to bring it up when he travelled abroad, he said.
The Congress insisted that the Supreme Court’s decision only addressed the method used. “The Supreme Court only made a ruling about whether or not Section 26(2) of the RBI Act, 1934 was lawfully applied before the announcement of demonetization on November 8, 2016,” the court stated. neither more nor less. In her dissenting opinion, one honourable judge stated that Parliament shouldn’t have been disregarded, according to Jairam Ramesh, general secretary for communications for the Congress.
On Monday, a 4-1 vote by the Supreme Court’s Constitution bench upheld the Union government’s 2016 demonetisation policy. As a representative of himself, SA Nazeer, AS Bopanna, and V Ramasubramanian, Justice BR Gavai gave out the majority verdict. BV Nagarathna, a judge, wrote a dissenting opinion.
The ruling, the Congress claimed, “stated nothing on the impact of demonetisation, which was a particularly terrible choice. It halted MSMEs, decimated the informal sector, weakened the growth momentum, and ruined millions of livelihoods.
“The judgement says nothing about whether or not the demonetisation’s claimed goals were achieved. None of these objectives—cutting the amount of currency in circulation, implementing a cashless society, minimising currency fraud, putting an end to terrorism, and discovering hidden wealth—were successfully accomplished, Ramesh continued.
But Prasad claimed that the introduction of demonetisation has brought transparency to the financial sector. Digital transactions have increased, with 7.03 billion worth $12 lakh crore occurring in just one month of October 2022, according to him.
In response, Prasad said in his media conference, “You don’t focus on the majority judgement, this is unfair, improper, and condemnable.”
The Supreme Court’s majority decision, according to a statement from the CPI(M), only addressed the legal authority of the central government to make such a decision. The dissenting judgement of one of the honorable judges held that this Section of the RBI Act states that the RBI must recommend to the government that demonetization begin. The Central government made the choice in this instance after consulting the RBI. Therefore, before to making this decision, Parliament’s approval was required, according to the statement.