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8 Times The Supreme Court's Statements On Demonetisation Echoed India's Confusion And Frustration

Hear, hear!
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It has been just over one month since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of old ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes in India, but chaos surrounding the same hasn't died down yet.

Be it the long queues in banks, ATMs running out of cash or the lack of smaller denomination notes across the country, the "surgical strike on black money" aka the demonetisation move has been a constant source of news and controversies. In fact, according to the Opposition's estimate, over 100 people have died because of it.

But this week, when the Supreme Court asked the Government to explain itself on certain key points regarding the demonetisation move, it echoed the sentiments of almost the entire nation who has been bearing the brunt of the government's alleged battle against black money hoarders.

This wasn't the first time the SC had pulled the government up on the demonetisation issue. Here's a list of the scathing statements and questions that the apex court subjected the government to.

On 15 November, the SC said:

  • Commenting on the suffering of the common man, SC had remarked that discontinuation of higher denomination notes was more of a carpet bombing than a surgical strike on black money. "Discontinuing of higher denomination notes appears to be carpet bombing and not surgical strike," the bench said.

On 18 November, the SC said:

  • The rolling back of old currency notes is a serious matter and if not handled properly could lead to riots in the country.

On 9 December, the SC posed a series of questions based on petitions filed from all across the country:

  • When you prepared the [demonetisation] policy, it was supposed to be confidential. But now that it no longer necessary, can you tell us an estimate about how much how much time will it take for things to become normal?
  • Did you make any estimation at all? Was there a plan? Or, did you take the decision just like that?
  • If you thought notes worth ₹10 lakh crore would come back to the banks, did you take steps to urgently put in that much of new currency back in circulation? Can you produce the Cabinet note before the decision was taken?
  • If there is a withdrawal limit of maximum ₹24,000 per month, and the banks are unable to render the cash, shouldn't there be a minimum amount too?
  • Why aren't the district co-operative banks allowed to accept deposits in old notes?

And finally, the most obvious one of them all:

  • What exactly are the objectives and benefits of this demonetisation move?

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.