NEW DELHI: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday defended the note ban while denying the allegation that farmers suffered because of this.
He was speaking after introducing a bill in Lok Sabha which was subsequently passed. The bill makes the holding of more than 10 old notes of Rs 500/1000 denomination punishable with a minimum fine of Rs 10,000.
Slamming the Opposition the minister urged them not to use farmers as their political instrument to oppose black money crackdown.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister said, “You can’t use farmer’s excuse to justify black money, don’t make them as your motto when they are under tax exempt”.
Jaitley on Friday introduced the bill on demonetisation- The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Bill 2017. Speaking on the bill, Finance Minister on Tuesday described the November 8 note ban as the “largest currency replacement in the world”.
"To take such step it required boldness and that's why the decision was not taken in the last seven decades…Whole country was patient, only one who had problems was the Indian opposition not the people," Jaitley said.
The Bill, to replace the ordinance promulgated on December 30, also provides for a minimum fine Rs 50,000 for false declaration by persons who were abroad during the demonetisation period (November 9-December 30, 2016) and given time to deposit the scrapped notes with RBI till March 31.
Jaitley said the volume of currency in India was extraordinarily large and this has led to a shadow and parallel economy, facilitating crime and acting as a facilitator for corruption, fake currency, and terrorism.
"We must move to a greater digital economy and therefore free the economy from these vices....you cannot allow a parallel currency to operate in the market. So holding the currency beyond a specified limit for research and numismatic purposes will be an offence. This is the rationale behind this bill," he said.
Jaitley also denied the allegations of farmers suffering because of note ban and stated that compared to last year, Rabi sowing witnessed an increase of 7 percent.