The Congress on Monday said it is “misleading and wrong” to say that the Supreme Court has upheld demonetisation. He said that the majority of the apex court in this case is concerned with the limited issue of the decision making process and not with its consequences.
AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said there was nothing in the judgment to say whether the stated objectives of demonetisation were achieved or not.
“The Supreme Court’s decision is on the process of demonetisation and not on its consequences,” he said. If anyone has to apologise, it is the Prime Minister, because the ‘Tughlaqi’ decision taken by him on 8th November, 2016 destroyed lakhs of MSMEs, informal sector and livelihood of lakhs of people and we are still facing it Huh. It had a negative impact on our economy,” Ramesh said.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, however, said the Supreme Court’s verdict was “deeply disappointing” as the apex court had failed to hold the BJP-led central government accountable for its “monumental negligence”. His colleague and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram said the dissenting judgment on demonetisation was a “slap on the wrist” for the government as it pointed out “illegalities and irregularities” in the decision.
The Supreme Court, in a 4:1 majority verdict, upheld the government’s 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination notes, saying the decision-making process was not flawed.
Justice BV Nagaratna disagreed with the majority judgment of a constitution bench headed by Justice SA Nazeer and said that the cancellation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 series notes had to be done through a law and not through a notification .
“The majority of the Supreme Court is concerned with the limited issue of the decision making process and not with its outcome. “To say that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has upheld demonetisation is totally misleading and wrong,” Ramesh said.
“None of these goals – reducing currency in circulation, moving towards a cashless economy, curbing fake currency, ending terrorism and unearthing black money – were achieved with significant measures,” he added. They said.
Surjewala said the Supreme Court’s decision on demonetisation was “very disappointing”. India In a design economic crisis. The Supreme Court has failed to hold the BJP government accountable for its gross negligence.
“Due to demonetisation, the poorest were the victims, families were devastated and the economy remained under judgment for years. Yet all documented suffering has escaped the attention of the court. The Congress leader said that not holding the government accountable would embolden it to commit more illegal acts.
Once the Supreme Court has declared the law, Chidambaram said, we are bound to accept it.
“It may only be a slap on the wrist to the government, but a welcome slap on the wrist,” he said in a series of tweets.
“It is necessary to point out that the majority has not retained knowledge of the judgment; Nor has the majority concluded that the stated objectives were achieved. In fact, most people have shied away from the question of whether the objectives were achieved,” he said.
Chidambaram said that the dissenting judgment would go down in the history of the Supreme Court as one of the famous dissents.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Kheda said that the Supreme Court has only given its verdict on the process of demonetisation and has not commented on its outcome in any decision.
“The Supreme Court has not accepted demonetisation and has not given any opinion on the consequences of the policy,” he said.
“To say that the Supreme Court has upheld demonetisation is misleading and brazenly wrong,” he said.
Ramesh said in a statement that the Supreme Court has only said whether Section 26(2) of the RBI Act, 1934 was properly implemented before announcing demonetisation on November 8, 2016.
“Nothing more, nothing less. Parliament should not have been bypassed,” a judge said in his dissenting opinion.
The court said in its decision on Monday that great restraint has to be exercised in matters of economic policy and the court cannot suppress the discretion of the executive by judicial review of its decision.
The bench, also comprising Justices BR Gavai, AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said the Centre’s decision-making process could not have been flawed as there was consultation between the RBI and the central government.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)