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The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition which alleged that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) exchanged currency notes worth Rs 30 crores that were defaced by a Kashmiri separatist group in 2013.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh dismissed the PIL which sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the allegations. "We are not inclined to entertain this writ petition purportedly filed in the public interest. The same is, accordingly, dismissed. However, the issue, if so required to be adjudicated, shall be gone into an appropriate case," the bench stated in its January 10 order. The bench was informed by the RBI that the petitioner, Satish Bhardwaj, had suppressed the fact that he was fired from the RBI. Bhardwaj alleged that in 2013 the Jammu branch of the RBI exchanged the currency notes, which belonged to a separatist group, in violation of the RBI Act and the RBI (Note Refund) Rules, 2009. He further alleged that the separatist group in Kashmir, in a statement on Facebook claimed to have stamped separatist slogans on Indian currency worth Rs 30 crore between May and August 2013. The currency notes could only be exchanged as per law and no such stamped currency could be exchanged as per RBI regulations, stated the petitioner. (ANI)
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