Earlier, a bench of Chief Justice (CJ) Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela had sought the Centre and the AAP government’s response on the plea by advocate and BJP leader Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay, whereas a bench of CJ Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula on Thursday expressed the inclination to dismiss the plea.
Upadhyay’s Public Interest Litigation (PIL) also sought the court’s direction for measures to reduce corruption and for restricting cash transactions of air tickets, rail tickets, electricity bills, and other bills of Rs 10,000 and above.
During the hearing, Upadhyay sought to withdraw the PIL with the liberty to take recourse to other remedies available under law, as the bench was about to reserve the order on merits.
“Dismissed as withdrawn, with liberty as aforesaid,” the court said.
Justice Narula also said that he will impose costs on Upadhyay for filing the petition.
Earlier, although the court did not issue a formal notice in the matter, it had asked the counsel appearing for the Central and Delhi government — Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi, respectively — to obtain instructions in the matter.
Upadhyay had argued in the plea that the PIL’s requests are a “practical solution” to the problems of corruption, the production of black money, money laundering, benami transactions, and disproportionate assets.
“Similarly, no district is free from the clutches of mafias’ viz. land mafia, drug-liquor mafia, mining mafia, transfer-posting mafia, betting mafia tender mafia, hawala mafia illegal immigration mafia conversion mafia, superstition-black magic mafia and white-collar political mafia, dividing society on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth,” the plea stated
“Moreover, India cannot move forward without clean-transparent governance for which corruption-free society is a basic requirement and that is impossible without recalling currency above Rs 100, restricting cash transactions above Rs 10,000 linking assets above Rs 50,000, with Aadhaar and confiscating cent per cent black money, disproportionate assets, and benami property and giving rigorous life imprisonment to looters.”
In addition to these measures, the plea had also called for restrictions on cash transactions when purchasing air tickets, rail tickets, electricity bills, LPG bills, CNG bills, municipality bills, and other bills above Rs 10,000, as the petitioner believed this to be a practical solution to curb corruption.
Upadhyay had also requested that the court direct the central and state governments to take appropriate measures to limit cash transactions on all industrial and domestic goods, products, and services to a maximum retail price of Rs 10,000.
–Ajit Weekly News
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