A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) contesting Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and State Bank of India (SBI) regulations that allow the exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes without the need for any identity documentation was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on Monday.

The case, which contested the RBI and SBI notices authorising the exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes without a requisition slip and identification verification, was denied by a division bench consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.

Petitioner and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay submitted that a large amount of currency has reached either an individual's locker or has "been hoarded by separatists, terrorists, Maoists, drug smugglers, mining mafias and corrupt people", according to a PTI report.

The argument put out was that the notifications violated Article 14 of the Constitution and were arbitrary and illogical.

It should be noted that the State Bank of India previously advised all of its branches that no form or identity documentation was necessary in order to exchange the Rs 2,000 notes that the RBI had removed from circulation.

"The facility of Rs exchange of Rs 2,000 to all members of the public upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time will be allowed without obtaining any requisition slip," the bank said in a circular dated May 20. "Further, no identity proof is required to be submitted by the tenderer at the time of exchange."

The RBI had stated that the goal of introducing the currency note had been accomplished when it announced on May 19 the removal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation. The 2,000 rupee notes will still be accepted as legal cash, according to the central bank, but it encourages holders to exchange or deposit them before September 2023.

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