The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that having kept scrapped currency notes of Rs 500 and 1000 beyond December 31 is an offence.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi opposed before a three-judge bench, presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar, a batch of PILs contending that people were not being allowed to deposit scrapped currency notes of Rs 500 and 1000, despite the promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8.

The bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, however, told the top law officer that the Supreme Court issued a notice and gave a short time period to file the reply, to “make you alive to the situation”.

“The only thing he (petitioner) is saying is that there was a window which was there in the first decision. He is saying the window was now closed in the Ordinance,” the bench said.