Govt: DeMon due to big rise in ₹500/1,000 notes

Move To Expand Formal Sector, Centre Tells SC

- Dhananjay Mahapatra

The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that a massive increase in the circulation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination was one of the prime factors influencing the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to recommend withdrawal of these two legal tenders.

In an affidavit to be scrutinised by a five-judge bench seized of a bunch of petitions challenging the 2016 demonetisation decision, the government said, “There was a massive increase in the circulation of banknotes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 vis-a-vis Rs 50 and Rs 100 in the preceding five years, as per RBI data.”