Hyderabad: Supreme Court judge Justice B V Nagarathna on Saturday said she was stirred by the people's plight due to the Centre's move on demonetisation.
Speaking during the introductory session of the Courts and the Constitution Conference organised by NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad on Saturday, she also expressed concern over the role of governors.
"We all know what happened on November 8, 2016, when 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were demonetised. The interesting aspect is that 86% of the currency then comprised 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, which I think the Union government lost sight of. Imagine a labourer had to get his notes exchanged before he could go to the grocery shop. And 98% of the currency came back to the RBI. So, where were we heading towards black money eradication?" she asked.
"Hence, I had to dissent (in the Vivek Narayan Sharma vs Union of India case). The manner in which demonetisation was done was not correct. There was no decision-making process in accordance with the law. It was done in such a haste that some people say that even the then finance minister did not know about it. The communication went one evening and demonetisation happened the next day."
Referring to the Supreme Court's judgement in The State Of Punjab v Principal Secretary To The Governor Of Punjab And Anr. 2023, Justice Nagarathna expressed concern about "governors of state becoming points of litigation".
Bringing actions or omissions of the governor before constitutional courts is not a healthy trend, she said. "The governor's post is a serious constitutional post, and governors must discharge their duties and act as per the Constitution so that this kind of litigation is reduced. It is embarrassing for governors to be told to do a thing or not to do a thing," she said.
Her remarks came against the backdrop of the apex court expressing concern in recent times over the acts of governors of several states.
Published 30 March 2024, 23:01 IST