Delhi High Court Hears Petition by BJP Leader Seeking Restrictions on Cash Transactions on E-Commerce Sites

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court heard a petition filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, who sought directions to restrict cash transactions on e-commerce websites. 

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela did not issue notice on the matter but asked the government counsel to obtain instructions in the matter.

Upadhyay argued that such cash transactions are the cause of most of the corruption in the country. He filed the petition as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and sought directions to Central and state governments to restrict cash transactions on e-commerce websites like Amazon and Flipkart. 

The plea further seeks directions that no cash transaction of over ₹10,000 should be allowed to pay electricity, gas, LPG or CNG bills or to buy air and rail tickets. A prayer has also been made to direct the governments to take steps to reduce corruption.

The petitioner argued that since 80 crore Indians receive free grants, they fall under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. Therefore, they do not buy goods and services of over ₹10,000 frequently. He further stated that such a restriction is a practical solution to control corruption, black money generation, money laundering, benami transactions and disproportionate assets.

The plea further argued that India’s ranking in the World Happiness Index as well as the Global Peace Index is very low, despite which the Centre and states have not taken steps to weed out corruption. It added that if the Central government recalls currencies having denominations of more than ₹100, restricts cash transactions of over ₹10,000, links movable assets with Aadhaar and enacts laws to confiscate black money and benami properties, it will lead to an increment of 2% in India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

The petitioner concluded that although there may be some inconvenience for a short period, honest citizens will not lose their hard-earned savings, and nothing will get confiscated.

The Delhi High Court sought responses from the Central and Delhi governments on the petition and asked petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay if the Court can issue mandamus on the issue. Upadhyay answered in the affirmative. The Court has yet to issue a notice on the matter.