A group of senior citizens in Ahmedabad, who had deposited Rs. 1.56 lakh worth scrapped notes to the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai branch, by March 31 last year, have been waiting for their notes to get exchanged. Losing patience, now they have moved the Gujarat high court pleading to end their suffering.
A petition filed by Priyankant Upadhyay and his wife was heard by the first division bench Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice Vipul Pancholi on Thursday. The court has issued a notice to the RBI, asking the leading bank to respond before the next hearing.
KK Shah, the petitioners' advocate, informed the court that the bank's inaction was in violation of its own order which stated that every Indian citizen, who was travelling abroad, could return the old notes (of Rs500 and Rs1000 denominations) by March 31. The bank would accept them only at selected RBI centres and issue new notes. The petitioners, who are former Gujarat government employees, were in Brisbane on November 8, 2016, when the demonetisation was announced. It was only in last February that the duo returned and went to the bank's Mumbai branch with old notes worth Rs 1.56 lakh to get them exchanged.
The bank had assured them to deposit the same in fresh notes to their accounts in a fortnight.
The petitioner, however, claimed that the bank had sent them messages in August, saying that being Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) their claim for exchange was not tenable.
The petitioner had also submitted copies of identity proofs to the bank such as Aadhar and Pan Cards, Passport, Visa and Income Tax return to establish that they were Indian citizens. The RBI is yet to respond to their claims, the petitioners stated.
The petitioners said they had approached the RBI, Ahmedabad, and were asked to approach the Mumbai centre an fill in the required forms for exchanges.
The petitioners also pleaded that they had incurred more expenses to represent their case before the bank in September after they had received the message informing them that their application is rejected.
HARRIED COUPLE
- A petition filed by Priyankant Upadhyay and his wife was heard by the first division bench Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice Vipul Pancholi on Thursday.
- The bank had assured them to deposit the same in fresh notes to their accounts in a fortnight.
- Petitioner had also submitted copies of identity proofs to the bank such as Aadhar and Pan Cards, Passport, Visa and Income Tax return to establish that they were Indian citizens.
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