BackGovt notifies law to make possession of old Rs500, Rs1000 notes punishable
Possession of more than 10 pieces of old Rs500 and Rs1000 notes will be a criminal offence, attracting fine of Rs10,000 or 5 times the cash held, whichever is higher
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New Delhi: The government has notified the law that makes the holding of more than 10 scrapped notes punishable with a minimum fine of Rs10,000.
The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017, was passed by Parliament last month with a view to eliminating the “possibility of running a parallel economy" using the old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes that have been demonetised.
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The law, signed by President Pranab Mukherjee on 27 February, also provides for a minimum fine Rs50,000 for a false declaration by persons who were abroad during the demonetisation period (9 November-30 December, 2016) and given time to deposit such scrapped notes with RBI till 31 March.
With the law coming into force, possession of more than 10 pieces of the old notes by individuals and more than 25 pieces for study, research or numismatics purpose will be a criminal offence, attracting fine of Rs10,000 or five times the cash held, whichever is higher.
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The Act also ends the liability of the Reserve Bank of India and the government on the demonetised currency notes. The government took the demonetisation decision on the recommendations of the RBI’s central board to eliminate unaccounted money and fake currency notes from the financial system.
The law prohibits the holding, transferring or receiving of scrapped notes from 31 December, 2016, and seeks to confer power on the court of a first class magistrate to impose the penalty.
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