857 Fiscal and Monetary Policies cannot/need not be regarded as beyond the purview of Supreme Court of India

With due high respect to the Supreme Court of India, yb-donkey is emotionally compelled/tempted to say that fiscal / monetary policies a Government follows cannot / need not be beyond the purview of the Supreme Court. Context: Suprme Court's reluctance to look into Demonetization 2016 (popularly known as NOTE BAN), on the ground of such policies being within the exclusive domain of the Executive. Here is a DeccanChronicle.com news report dated 17th Dec. 2016, titled: Supreme Court not to tinker with notes ban Click to go to Deccan Chronicle article..

For the benefit of those, who are not conversant and familiar with the terms "fiscal" and "monetary", here are the general broader meanings of the terms.

FISCAL POLICY: Deals with A Government's income and Expenditure. Example: budget, tax revenues, internal borrowings, external borrowings, plan expenditure, non-plan-expenditure, deficit financing etc. Primarily, a domain of Ministry of Finance.

MONETARY POLICY: Deals with Money Supply in the Economy. Internal Currency Management. Pricing of moneys (interest rates). etc. Primarily, a domain of Reserve Bank of India, though technically RBI itself is an instrument of the Government.

TOP TEN REASONS. WHY SUPREME COURT NEED NOT HESITATE TO SHY AWAY FROM INTERVENING AND ADJUDICATING THE DEMONETIZATION 2016 (NOTE BAN).

IF NOT GOVT. LAW, CAUSE OF EQUITY SEEKS JUDICIAL INTERVENTION

Ordinarily, Supreme Court need not look into Fiscal Policies of the Government, or the Monetary Policies of the Reserve Bank of India (indirectly by GoI). But from 8th Nov. 2016, a sort of FINANCIAL EMERGENCY arose in India. Citizens of India, initially thought that it would last a few days, and the train would be back on track. But, the derailment continues even after 40 days, deep through Dec. 2016. In his Nov. 8, 2016 speech, Mr. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India while declaring that the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes will become trash, has not said that currency shortages are going to continue for 50 days, though time is given to holders of notes to deposit their trash with Banks upto 31st Dec. 2016. He is now giving assurances that everything will be normal after 50 days. But, many experts seem to have a different opinion.

BREACH OF NATURAL JUSTICE

Natural Justice , and EQUITY are indisputably paramount and superior, when compared to Parliamentary Laws, Delegated Laws (Notifications issued by Executive, using a sort of delegated general authority provided in Parliamentary Laws, to take care of contingencies and exigencies, as everything cannot be exhaustively inducted and packaged into a Statutory Law at the time of Enactment), and even Case Laws (Supreme Court judgements accepted by lower courts as role-models). On 8th Nov. 2016, with the WAVE of a Prime Minister's hand, 86% of the currency held by the people to purchase their necessities, and to undertake their daily small businesses, has been reduced into a heap of trash, leaving people astounded, making them beggars in their own country. Foreign Tourists have been rendered into stranger beggars in an unknown-land, with old trash pieces in their hands, wondering about how to buy a meal for the day, and surviving on help from good samaritans.

HIGHEST COURT MAY HAVE TO INTERVENE WHERE EXECUTIVE BECOMES PARANOID AND FICKLE

Though it may be apt for Governments / Executive to make on-course changes in guidelines depending upon contingencies, facts show that Government and its Executives have been announcing changes everyday just as film heroines change dresses several times in a song. Sometimes, these changes seem too fickle. I shall give my own practical experience.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Even before Nov. 8 demontization, very few ATMs were giving Rs. 100 denomination notes. I used to search for ATMs with Rs. 100 notes. There also, the machines are set to give Rs. 100x5= Rs.500, and the remaining balance in Rs. 500/1000 denomination. To overcome this problem, if I needed Rs. 5000/- I used to draw Rs. 1,000 five times, to get Rs.2,500 in 500 denomination, and Rs. 2,500 in Rs. 100 denomination. Thus, I accumulated Rs.12,000 in 500/1000 denomination notes as on Nov. 8. I happen to be an addict and slave of PROCRASTINATION. As the Govt. gave time for deposit of old notes into bank accounts upto 31ST Dec., I went on postponing the deposit, while I was seeing others deposit their old notes.

ANALOGY OF ZEBRA CALVES

One night, I had a bad dream, may be as a sequel of Government's daily announcement of changes in guidelines. In the dream, Govt. was forbiding deposit of old notes into one's own accounts. Next day, I rushed to bank, and disposed off the Rs. 12,000/- like a vratam (sacred duty), with help of fellow-queue-gens who were more knowledgeable about ATM Deposit machines. Had I not performed that vratam then and there----, today, I may be facing an awkward situation: 1) Deposit Rs. 5,000, Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 2,000 in three lots. 2) Or go to Bank Manager, provide explanation in the presence of two officials "why I had not deposited earlier", pray them and deposit Rs. 12,000/- in one lot. What is the lesson of this predicament? The story of Zebra and its calf. I read somewhere. Cows lick and kiss their calves, soon after their births. Zebras, instead, kick their calves, and make them to run for safety. This was said to be to teach the zebra calf to be on alert right from the first day of birth. In the same manner, citizens are being taught to be on alert, to save themselves from their Nation, and its Nationalist Patriotic Rulers.

STORY OF SEVEN PRINCES, AND SEVEN FISH

In Telugu language, there is a fable told to children, called STORY OF SEVEN FISH.

There used to be a king. He had seven sons. The seven sons went, hunted, and brought seven fish. They dried them. One fish did not dry. The owner-prince of that particular fish, went to it and questioned: "Oh fish! Oh fish! Why did not you get dry?"

Fish: "A haystack obstructed my access from sunlight."

Prince: (The Prince went to the haystack, and asked it): "Oh haystack! Oh haystack! Why did you obstruct sunlight to the fish?"

Haystack:- "Cow did not graze me".

(Now the Prince went to the cow and asked it). "Oh cow! Oh cow! Why didn't you graze the hay?"

Cow: "The cowherd didn't take me to grazing".

(Now, the Prince went to the cowherd and asked him): "Ow Cowherd! Oh Cowherd! Why didn't you make the cow to graze?"

Cowherd: "Mother did not feed me my breakfast! "

(Now, the Prince went to Mother and asked her): "Oh Mother ! Oh Mother ! Why didn't you provide breakfast to the cowherd?"

Mother: "The child wept. Hence I could not attend to the cowherd's needs."

(Now, the Prince went to the child and asked it): "Oh child! Oh child! Why did you weep?"

Child: "Ant bit me".

(Now, the Prince went to the ant, and asked it): "Oh ant ! Oh ant! Why did you bite the child?"

Ant: "If the child keeps its finger, in my golden ant-hole, won't I bite him? What should I do, if not biting it? "

The Bank Officials question the late depositor: "Why didn't you deposit old notes earlier?"

Late depositor: "Long queues obstructed me going into the ATM room. Police guards and long queues at Bank gates, obstructed me from entering Banking Halls."

Now the Bank Officials have to go to long queues and ask the queue-gens: "Why did you obstruct the late depositor from going in /coming in?". But with their workload, the Bank Staff are getting heart attacks. They are unable to perform their daily or alternate day sexual intercourse with their wives, as Bank-staff are spending 24/7 in Banks, and are getting too fatigued to perform sex.

SUPREME COURT HAS ALREADY INTERVENED NUMEROUS TIMES INTO NUMEROUS FLIMSY THINGS WHICH HAVE NO NATIONAL IMPORTANCE

Anybody can prepare a Table of Contents for the pending/settled Supreme Court cases. The table will reveal, all types of cases both important, and unimportant have been entertained by Supreme Court. I am afraid, that it will not be reasonable to say those sets of Supreme Court Judges, and the present set of Supreme Court Judges are different. Can't citizens expect some continuity? Strictness or liberality, whatever they are, can't we citizens expect some consistency? The same is the case with locus standi in respect of public interest litigations (PIL). It is difficult for citizens or even legal experts to forecast whether a particular PIL will get admitted or disposed off as flimsy/lacking locus standing with the applicant getting fined Rs. 10,000/-.

When compared to many other cases decided by Supreme Court, examining the reasonableness of some notifications under demonetization and note ban, is not going to be intrusion and overstepping into Executive Arena.

To continue. सशेष. ఇంకా ఉంది.