The Congress on Monday claimed that the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had rejected the reasons cited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demonetise ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes in 2016.

Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh made this claim while releasing the minutes of the RBI Board meeting that took place just hours before Mr. Modi announced the note ban on November 8, 2016.

RTI query

Mr. Ramesh said the minutes of the RBI meeting were obtained through an Right to Information (RTI) application filed by an activist, who got the reply 26 months after he had asked for it.

The former Union Minister alleged that despite the observations, the Central Board of Directors, which included the present Governor Shaktikanta Das, then a director, had backed the move as the RBI was “pressured” by the government.

Mr. Ramesh said that though former RBI Governor Urjit Patel had appeared before three Parliamentary panels after the November 8 note ban, minutes of the RBI Board meeting (the 561st) were never shared with the panels.

Promises probe

Mr. Ramesh said the RTI on demonetisation was the first in a series of exposes that the Congress had planned, to “puncture” the NDA government’s claim about its flagship schemes like free electric connections under the Saubhagya scheme or free LPG connections under the Ujjwala Yojana.

Calling it a money laundering scheme, he said if the Congress came to power, it would probe demonetisation.

“Now that the Modi government is in the departure lounge, these documents are coming out... I think the realities of the past five years will now come out. This is just the first episode and there are many more to come,” said Mr. Ramesh.

He said the RBI Board had rejected the NDA government’s arguments that demonetisation would unearth black money, tackle counterfeit currency or move the country towards a cashless society. “Most of the black money is held not in the form of cash but in the form of real estate or assets such as gold... this move would not have a material impact on those assets,” Mr. Ramesh quoted from an RTI reply to argue that the central board of the RBI had rejected the government’s argument.

Fake notes

The Congress leader also claimed that of the ₹15 lakh crore currency in circulation, counterfeit currency was insignificant.

He quoted the relevant paragraph that read, “While any incidence of counterfeiting is a concern, ₹400 crore as a percentage of the total quantum of currency in circulation in the country is not very significant.”

Calling demonetisation as the biggest assault on the economy, Mr. Ramesh said, “If there is one single decision that destroyed the economy, it is notebandi. No economist can ever agree to it except some ‘quacks’ who are now in the RBI.”