How the RBI Dodged RTI Appeals For Minutes Of Meeting On Demonetisation

While India's leaders make a mockery of the constitution and the economy, the Reserve Bank of India made a mockery of the Right to Information Act. RBI cautions against the negative impact on GDP The minutes of the 561st meeting of the RBI's central board, which was convened hurriedly in New Delhi at 5.30 pm on 8 November 2016, revealed that the central bank's directors described the move as "commendable" but also warned that demonetisation "will have a short-term negative effect on the GDP for the current year." Analysing these minutes, the Indian Express reported that, in less than four hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation on November 8, 2016, the central board of the RBI gave its approval to the scheme but also rejected, in writing, two of the key justifications for the move — elimination of black money and counterfeit notes. The RBI directors, after receiving a proposal draft of the scheme from the Ministry of Finance on November 7, 2016, argued that the government's reasoning, that the withdrawal of HD currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 would help in curbing black money and restrict circulation of counterfeit cash, did not really hold up. "The board was assured that the government would take mitigating measures to contain the use of cash… the board considered the memorandum and after detailed deliberations concluded that in the larger public interest, the balance of advantage would lie in the withdrawal of legal tender status of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes currently in circulation…" Black money reports not for the public The Union finance minister recently stated in parliament that black money study reports may be made available to MPs who sit on the Department-related Parliamentary Committee on Finance but they would not be placed in the public domain.