BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court emphasised said that both courts and investigating agencies must follow guidelines outlined in the 2017 government notification, regarding the release and exchange of demonetised notes of litigants.
The division bench of Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav and Justice Ramachandra D Huddar passed the order while disposing of the appeal filed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The appeal was filed against the order passed by the single judge, allowing the petition filed by Sanjukumar, a native of Kalaburagi, by directing RBI to consider his representation for exchange of the value of demonetised currency with legal tender.
The RBI contended that the request for exchange of demonetised currency with legal tender cannot be considered, as the same can only be considered by the Union of India.
The High Court said that as rightly pointed out by senior counsel for the RBI, the courts before which bank notes seized by investigating authorities have been produced, are required to follow the procedure indicated in the notification dated May 12, 2017, issued by the Finance ministry. If such a procedure is not followed, it would result in many litigants, who had no role in the delayed attempt to exchange demonetised notes for legal tender, being prejudiced, the high court added.