The Supreme Court on Friday provided the Union Government a final opportunity to file a response regarding a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that demands a CBI investigation into an incident involving the exchange of defaced currency notes allegedly linked to a Kashmiri separatist group. The total amount in question is said to be Rs 30 crore.
Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, presiding over the matter, extended the deadline by four weeks, citing “the interest of justice,” despite the government having had ample time previously to respond. The PIL, initiated by Satish Bhardwaj, claims that the Jammu branch of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) improperly exchanged these currency notes in 2013, purportedly for a group known as “Kashmir Graffitti.”
According to Bhardwaj’s petition, the act was carried out with the intent to disrupt peace and instill a sense of terror and tension among the residents of Jammu and Kashmir. He highlighted that the group allegedly stamped separatist slogans on the Indian currency over several months.
Bhardwaj argues that such exchanges violate RBI regulations, which stipulate that defaced currency can only be exchanged under specific legal conditions. He has pushed for the investigation to be monitored by the court to ensure a thorough and impartial inquiry into the alleged exchange of stamped currency notes.
