Restrictions on daily withdrawal of cash by bank account holders is a policy decision which is beyond judicial review, the Delhi High Court on Friday ruled, in a fillip to the Modi government’s demonetisation exercise.
The ruling by a Bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice V.K. Rao came on a plea seeking removal of cap on daily withdrawal of money deposited in banks before demonetisation kicked in.
‘Devoid of merit’
The judges dismissed the petition on the ground that it was “devoid of merit” as there were “no restrictions” for operating the bank account by “non-cash transactions.“
“It may be added that the manner in which the decision to withdraw the bank notes of specified amount with effect from November 9, 2016 is to be implemented is a policy decision which is beyond the scope of powers of judicial review,” the Bench said.
“The law is well settled that the court can only interfere if the policy framed is absolutely capricious or not informed by reasons or totally arbitrary and found ‘ipse dixit’ [a dogmatic and unproven statement] offending basic requirement of Article 14 [equality before law] of the Constitution of India,” it said.
The High Court’s order assumes importance as the Supreme Court is hearing a batch of pleas challenging the November 8 notification announcing demonetisation.
The High Court Bench said that it was a settled principle of law that courts cannot strike down a policy decision taken by the government. — PTI
Comments
Post a Comment