Mumbai – The High Court directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to accept the old notes worth Rs 20 lakhs during the income tax raids, while giving the verdict in favor of a group of Kolhapur residents.
The raid was conducted on December 26, 2016, which was done a few days before the government for depositing old notes of 500 and 1000 rupees by the government. The seized amount was returned to the applicants on January 17, 2017. By then the term of RBI had also ended and later there was difficulty in depositing notes in banks.
The RBI rejected the appeal as the deadline had passed. The petitioners argued that they were not responsible for the delay, as the currency notes were with the government.
The RBI argued in its defense that it was necessary to provide serial number of notes submitted after the deadline, which the petitioners were unable to provide.
The court considered the complaints of the petitioners and said that it would be unfair to punish them for the circumstances beyond their control. On 27 February, the court ordered the RBI to accept this amount and asked to ensure that the entire amount of Rs 20 lakh should be returned to the applicant within a week.
The Assistant Director Investigation informed the police on January 10, 2017 after the Income Tax Department seized the funds in the raid that the amount should be returned to the applicants on January 17, 2017.
