High Court ruling may end coins drought in Manipur

IMPHAL, January 24: The people of the state may no longer have to face the problem of shortage of coins and currency notes of small denominations, if a directive issued today by the Guwahati High Court, Imphal bench has any effect. A division bench comprising justices BB Deb, and AH Saikia, passing the final judgment on a public interest litigation filed in connection with the Reserve Bank of India, RBI to immediately remit coins and currency notes whenever requisitioned by the United Bank of India, UBI and State Bank of India, SBI for the state. The division bench further directed the UBI and SBI to operate exchange counters for exchanging old currency notes for new notes and coins at their branches at every district headquarters in the state. The judgment further directed the state government to provide security and other necessary aid for the banks in this regard. The PIL was filed by the Consumer Guidance of Imphal, with offices at Sagolband Mabudhou Mantri Leikai. Advocate M Rakesh Singh was the main force behind the petition. The petition was supported by an article published in July 2000 under the 'How Much Are You Paying' column of the Imphal Free Press, as well as a RBI document on the discontinuation of printing of currency notes of denominations Re 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5. The main prayer of the petitioner society focused on the difficulties faced by the public on account of coins and currency notes of smaller denominations. The extra expenditure on various items such as sweets and matches, which are often provided by shopkeepers in place of small change, was also pointed out. The RBI's counsel, Jyotirmoy Roy, who came down from Guwahati to argue the case, in the counter affidavit submitted before the court stated that the RBI used to send sufficient coins and notes for the state. However, the state government had prohibited the RBI from sending coins and notes by surface transport, and therefore the RBI often faced difficulties in transporting such items by Indian Airlines, because of weight limits. The RBI counter affidavit stated that coins and notes were being sent twice a week.