Demonetisation 2016 affirmed by Supreme Court; Court says no flaw in Decision Making process:

Demonetisation 2016 affirmed by Supreme Court; Court says no flaw in Decision-Making process The new year starts with an important judgment by the apex court, where the court, upheld the decision of the Central government taken in 2016 to demonetize the currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denominations. It was a 5 judge bench that made this decision where 4 judges voted in favour of upholding the note ban whereas one judge dissented. The 5 judge Constitution bench was headed by Justice S A Nazeer who gave this verdict. Justice SA Nazeer will retire on January 4. With this verdict, batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetize Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes has been dismissed. As per the decision, it is an Executive's economic policy, and the same cannot be reversed. The Apex court said that the notification dated November 8, 2016, which announced the decision to scrap the high-value currency notes, cannot be said to be unreasonable and struck down on the ground of the decision-making process. Justice Nagarathna, however, differed from the majority judgment on the point of the Centre's powers under section 26(2) of the RBI Act. "Parliament should have discussed the law on demonetization, the process should not have been done through a gazette notification. Parliament cannot be left aloof on an issue of such critical importance for the country," Justice Nagarathna said. She further added that there was no independent application of mind by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and only its opinion was sought, which cannot be said to be a recommendation.