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The Supreme Court on Friday warned the government to find ways to end the cash crisis as people standing in long queues for hours every day may turn violent anytime leading to anarchy.
Brushing aside the government contention, the court made it clear that “It is a serious issue.” Since it affects the entire population, it said, “You cannot deny there is a serious problem. There could be riots.”
The bench consisting of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice AR Dave retorted to attorney general Mukul Rohatgi’s plea seeking directive to lower courts to stop hearing cases related to demonetisation. Once the high courts take up legal suits, millions of suits will move the courts seeking intervention to redeem their money.
The bench took exception to limit the daily cash exchange limit to Rs 2,000, after promising to increase it to Rs.4500 creating suspicions in the minds of people about the government’s ability to exchange their money in time.
“The government just did not have the capacity to print new currency notes. They should have taken this into account and taken steps to avoid putting people into untold harassment,” said petitioners.
“Daily labourers are not getting paid, tea garden workers are not getting their salaries, people in rural areas have to walk long distances to reach banks and ATMs only to be told that these have run out of cash. It is a serious situation. Transporters are suffering. Trucks are standing idle without cash. India is a cash-based economy and the government has hurt it badly by freezing cash circulation,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal said in the Supreme Court on Friday on behalf of the petitioners who have questioned the legality of demonetisation.
The next hearing will be on November 25.
