In a notification issued on November 8, 2016, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. The move was aimed at fighting black money and incentivise the use of electronic modes of payment. On January 2, 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the Centre's decision in a 4:1 majority verdict, saying that the move “does not suffer from any flaws in the decision-making process”. A dissenting judge, Justice B V Nagarathna, however, said that the Government should have brought an ordinance or a law in Parliament to implement the noteban. Demonetisation is a radical monetary step in which a currency unit’s status as a legal tender is declared invalid. This is usually done whenever there is a change of national currency, replacing the old unit with a new one. In India, it was first implemented in 1946 when the Reserve Bank of India demonetised the then circulated Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 notes.
"It should not take these many years to get what is legally ours," says Pune contractor Girish Malani, who spent nearly a decade fighting the RBI in court after police seized his demonetised notes at an election check-post in 2016.
Like frogs in the proverbial boiling pot, our political consciousness and conscience have been slowly whittled away, turning us into subjects. The SIR is just the latest, and arguably the most egregious, in a series of exercises meant to achieve this docility
The trial court said it is “irreconcilable” that the complainant in the case could advance a large cash loan just weeks after declining a larger request.
The sudden withdrawal of notes roiled the economy with demand falling, businesses facing a crisis and gross domestic product (GDP) growth declining nearly 1.5 per cent.
The Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing visited the residence of businessman Raj Kundra and his actor-wife, Shilpa Shetty, last week, and recorded their statements in connection with the alleged Rs 60 crore cheating case.
Kundra's initial statement was recorded on September 15, but he agreed to provide a second round of statements, said a senior officer.
“The shortage has resulted in difficulties for small businesses, street vendors, and daily wage earners who rely heavily on cash transactions,” said Tagore.
While some establishments are accepting the notes without any fuss, others are citing a lack of change or are accepting them on the condition that the bill should be Rs 2,000 or close to it.
In a dig at the Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde, Sanjay Raut said Shinde’s MLAs had received 50 khokas (boxes of money) in Rs 2,000 notes and were now seeking to exchange them.
In this edition of the Idea Exchange, Former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian talks about demonitisation, defends GST, explains the reasons why growth has not been robust and reflects back on his tenure as Chief Economic Adviser of India.
Thousands of farmers from across the country have taken to the streets. ‘Dilli chalo’ is their slogan. What do they want? And is agrarian distress this government’s biggest problem? Harish Damodaran explains.
Bengal FM Amit Mitra talks about demonetisation, the problems with GST, failing Centre-state relations, the need for protecting and building institutions such as the RBI and CBI, investments in the state, and what the BJP “doesn’t get about Bengal".
Two years on, The Indian Express learns that RBI did not approve of demonetisation and more about the week’s top stories in Express Eye for Detail episode 12.
Two years on, we look at how demonetisation (and GST) had an adverse impact on micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs. Here are some of the concerns that MSMEs are dealing with.
The shortage of cash, decline in GDP, loss to small businesses and daily-wage workers - was it all worth it if most of the demonetised money is back in the system?
The 100-day vigil: How a custodial death case ended in a state-ordered cremation
India20 min ago
After 100 days, the body of 26-year-old Dalit man Akash Delison was finally removed from a government hospital and cremated under police protection. His family had demanded justice for his alleged death in police custody and refused to accept the body until all 16 involved officers were arrested. Despite actions taken, their demand for accountability remains unmet.
