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Special 
Image for representation On Monday, the Delhi High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and State Bank of India (SBI) notifications that permit exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes without requirement of any identity proof.
A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad rejected the petition, which has challenged the notifications by the RBI and SBI enabling exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes without requisition slip and identity proof.
Petitioner and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay submitted that a large amount of currency has reached either an individual's locker or has "been hoarded by separatists, terrorists, Maoists, drug smugglers, mining mafias and corrupt people", according to a PTI report.
The plea submitted that the notifications were arbitrary, irrational and offend Article 14 of the Constitution.
It must be noted that the State Bank of India had earlier informed all its branches that no form and no identity proof are required to exchange Rs 2,000 notes, which the RBI withdrew from circulation.
"The facility of Rs exchange of Rs 2,000 to all members of the public upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time will be allowed without obtaining any requisition slip," the bank said in a circular dated May 20. "Further, no identity proof is required to be submitted by the tenderer at the time of exchange."
The RBI had on May 19 announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation, saying the objective of introducing the currency note had been met. The central bank said Rs 2,000 notes will continue to be a legal tender but it encouraged people to exchange/deposit them by September 2023.
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