Post March, jail term also likely for possessing banned notes

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Post-March-jail-term-also-likely-for-possessing-banned-notes/article16953643.ece?homepage=true

Cabinet on Wednesday approves the promulgation of an ordinance in this regard.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the promulgation of an ordinance to impose penalty that may include jail term for possessing the scrapped Rs. 1,000 and old Rs. 500 notes beyond the cut-off date of March 31.

The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved an ordinance to amend the RBI Act to extinguish the liability of the government and the central bank on the demonetised notes to prevent future litigations.

Official sources said the ordinance was cleared, but did not say if the penal provisions would apply for holding the junked currency after the 50-day window to deposit them in banks ends as of December 30 or after March 31, till which time deposit of such currency at specified branches of the Reserve Bank, after submitting a declaration form, is open.

The penalty for holding the demonetised currency in excess of 10 notes may include financial fines and a jail term of up to four years in certain cases.

While announcing the demonetisation on November 8, the government had allowed people to either exchange demonetised notes or deposit them in bank and post office accounts.

While the facility to exchange the banned notes has since been withdrawn, depositors have time till Friday to deposit the holding in their accounts.