New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said it cannot divulge information about its decision to withdraw the Rs 2,000 currency note as it may affect India’s “relation with foreign state”. The central bank furnished the statement in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) national spokesperson Saket Gokhale.
On 19 May, the RBI announced that it will withdraw from circulation Rs 2000 currency notes, giving individuals time until September 2023 to return their notes to banks.
The RBI had, at the time, said that it decided to withdraw the notes as part of its ‘Clean Note Policy’ since the high-denomination currency notes had nearly “completed their estimated lifespan” and were not being used in general transactions any more.
Currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination were issued in response to “demonetization” which came into effect on 8 November, 2016.
In its reply to Gokhale’s RTI, however, the central bank said it could not provide information corresponding to the withdrawal.
“Information sought is exempted from disclosure under section 8(1)(a) of RTI Act, 2005 as sharing of the information may adversely affect the security, strategic and economic interest of the State, relation with foreign State,” the RBI said in its reply to Gokhale’s RTI.
Gokhale shared the RBI’s response on Twitter Tuesday, along with several questions of his own.
RBI bizarrely tells me that its decision to withdraw ₹2000 notes affects "foreign relations of India"
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I'd filed an RTI with the Reserve Bank of India asking for details and files pertaining to the decision to withdraw ₹2000 notes from circulation.
Shockingly, RBI said it… pic.twitter.com/ic35qq9yJw
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) June 20, 2023
“Shockingly, RBI said it can’t provide the info because it will ‘affect foreign relations with other states’,” he wrote.
Gokhale asked what the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes had to do with India’s foreign affairs and “what exactly prompted this sly, sudden, & mysterious ‘demonetization exercise’?”
He further called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the RBI to respond to his questions.
According to RBI governor Shaktikanta Das’s statement on 8 June, currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination amounting to Rs 1.8 lakh crore returned to the banking system, which made up 80 per cent of the notes that were in circulation as of March 31, 2023. Das added that 85 per cent of the returned notes had been deposited, and the rest exchanged for currency notes of smaller denominations.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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