Visually Impaired cannot identify new Rs. 50 note, Delhi HC seeks SK Rungta’s assistance

The Delhi High Court has asked Senior Advocate SK Rungta to assist in a Public Interest Litigation seeking withdrawal of Rs. 50 banknote for allegedly failing to include identifiers for visually impaired persons..This order was passed by Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar on February 16, 2018. The Bench also granted a week’s time for the Union government to file its affidavit setting out the differentiation in the various coins that have been issued or will be issued..The PIL was filed in the High Court in November last year by advocate Rohit Dandriyal. The petition alleged that the new Rs. 50 notes violated the rights of the visually impaired because they did not have the required identification marks as present in the older notes..The petition said,.“The old banknote had the identification mark on the left side which could be felt by touch and helped the visually impaired to identify the denomination whereas in the new note, there is no identification mark for the visually impaired persons. It is very difficult for the visually impaired to identify the new note.”.The High Court had issued notice in the case on January 31, 2018..Along with Rungta, who is visually impaired from birth, the Court also issued notice to George Abraham, CEO of Score Foundation, a non-profit that works for the visually impaired..The next date of hearing in the matter is March 7, 2018..Read the order below.