Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Hearing petitions challenging the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes the Apex court of India warned that this is very serious. People have become frantic, people are affected. There may be riots.
The bench led by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, and comprising Justice Anil R Dave asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi if there was a problem with printing new notes.
The CJI then countered it by saying that there was difficulty and suffering and the government cannot dispute that. The apex court took exception to the government's decision to reduce the exchange limit to Rs 2000. The Attorney General told the court that any case relating to demonetisation should be heard by the apex court only and High Courts should not be allowed to hear such petitions.
"People have the right to approach courts. We cannot shut our doors to the people. If we shut them from going to the High Court, how can we know the magnitude of the problem," said CJI Thakur
Rejecting this the court said that people were going to the courts for relief and it showed the magnitude of the problem. Senior Advocate leader Kapil Sibbal said that 47 people had died waiting in queues and asked the court to intervene.
Countering Sibal's argument, Rohatgi called him politically motivated. He added that the government was issuing notifications everyday only because it was concerned about people's problems. The Chief Justice then asked whether there was shortage in Rs 100 notes. Owning up that there was a shortage, Rohatgi said that "Rs 100 notes were in shortage. The demonetised notes were over 80% of our currency."
The Attorney General told the court that people have been allowed to swipe in SBI card-swipe machines and withdraw money. The SC will take up the matter on November 25. Four PILs have been filed in the SC alleging that the sudden decision to demonetise has inconvenienced the public and created chaos.
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