A subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) responsible for printing currency has said that the quantum of new currency notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 printed before the government’s announcement of demonetisation on November 8 cannot be disclosed as it may affect interests of the State. The response of the subsidiary - Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note (P) Limited (BRBNL) came after a RTI query sent to RBI under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to know the preparedness of the central bank to handle the cash crisis arising out of unexpected demonitisation move by Modi government.
In its response to RTI query, BRBNL has said that the information cannot be disclosed citing section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. The section allows declining information disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence. The RBI Press did not give any reasons to justify as to how giving plain data about currency printed by it before November 8 would qualify in any of the categories given under Section 8(1)(a) to deny the information.
Ironically, the RBI in a separate response had said that it had 2,473 million pieces of 2,000 rupee notes on November 8 which had a value of over Rs 4.94 lakh crore. The RBI has not been forthcoming with information about currency situation in the country and its preparedness in the wake of demonetisation citing one exemption or the other.