R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, November 15

The Supreme Court today endorsed the drive against black money, but asked the government to minimise the hardship being faced by the common man following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.A Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice DY Chandrachud asked the Centre to take immediate steps to control the collateral damage of the exercise.“You say it is a surgical strike against black money, terrorism and drug running, but the petitioners say it is carpet bombing” that affected all people holding cash, without discriminating if the money was white or otherwise, the Bench told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.The Bench made the remark while hearing four PILs on the problems the government’s sudden move had heaped on people. The petitioners are VK Sharma, Sangam Lal Pandey, S Muthukumar and Adil Alvi.Refusing to stay the drive, the Bench asked the government to file a status report on the steps being taken to help the general public before the next hearing on November 25. There was, however, no need for the government to dilute its focus on flushing out black money, it clarified.The Bench asked the government to consider the petitioners’ suggestions for helping people in need by letting them use the scrapped notes for essential goods, health services, travel and transport, marriages and other events and payment of fee to lawyers and bail amount.Arguing for one of the petitioners, senior counsel Kapil Sibal said “the government is responsible for the total chaos in the country” as it had taken the people by surprise instead of granting sufficient time. The AG, however, said such a drive could be successful only if it was done without notice.

Flip-flop on ATM limit

• New Delhi: The government has decided not to increase the ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 4,000 a day by this weekend as a majority of the ATMs are yet to be recalibrated for dispensing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. The ATM withdrawal limit from savings bank accounts will continue at Rs 2,500 a day for the time being. Cash withdrawal from current accounts, which have been in operation for at least three months, has also been restricted to Rs 50,000 in a week, a notification said. PTI

95% ATMs functional: SBI

• Mumbai: Country’s largest lender State Bank of India said around 95% of SBI Group’s ATMs are functional, with 140 machines re-calibrated to dispense new Rs 2,000 notes. The SBI Group has 55,000 ATMs and 7,000 cash deposit machines. PTI