Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde has directed the Centre to look into a PIL seeking investigation against RBI which had exchanged Rs 30 crore banknotes in 2013 which had been defaced by a separatist group in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The PIL was filed by Satish Bhardwaj, a resident of Amritsar who had alleged that no action was taken by the RBI and CBI earlier when a complaint was made in this regard subsequent to which the petitioner filed the present petition.

The petitioner has further stated in his petition that “the act of Jammu branch of Reserve Bank of India to exchange the defaced/ imperfect Indian currency notes worth Rs 30 crore that too which was done by a separatist group of Kashmir with a main aim of destabilising peace and harmony in the region of Jammu and Kashmir and to create an environment of tension and terror in the minds of common residents of the region is illegal and worth of interference of this court.”

The currency was defaced by a separatist group in Kashmir named “Kashmir Graffiti” who had written anti national slogans on the notes. The bench having regard to the urgency of the matter asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to file a reply within a period of two weeks.

— India Legal Bureau