Specified bank notes with verified serial numbers remained depositable after return, with equivalent value payable on identification.

Specified bank notes seized before the exchange deadline could still be deposited after their return where the notes were later correlated with their serial numbers and verified. The Bombay High Court treated the statutory scheme under Section 5(a) of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017 and Rule 2(a) of the 2017 Rules as satisfied once identification of the notes was established, rejecting the objection that the Reserve Bank could not accept them for want of earlier identification. The petitioners were therefore entitled to deposit the identified notes and receive the equivalent value on verification.

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Issues: Whether the petitioners were entitled to deposit specified bank notes that had been seized before the last date for exchange and later returned after the deadline, and to receive the equivalent value from the Reserve Bank of India on production of the serial numbers of the notes.

Analysis: The specified bank notes were seized before the permissible deposit date, but were returned to the petitioners only after they had ceased to be legal tender. The Court held that, in view of the subsequently produced serial numbers of the notes, the objection that the Reserve Bank could not accept them for want of identification was answered. The statutory scheme under Section 5(a) of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017 and Rule 2(a) of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Rules, 2017 was treated as satisfied once the notes could be correlated with their serial numbers and verified.

Conclusion: The petitioners were held entitled to deposit the specified bank notes bearing the identified serial numbers and to receive the equivalent amount after verification.

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