A man goes away free in IPL fixing wants to deposit Rs. 5.5 lakh in the old banned notes

Abhishek Shukla, who was earlier booked by the police as an alleged bookie was later set free along with former cricketer from Kerala cricketer S. Sreesanth in the 2013 IPL fixing scandal. Abhishek has moved to the apex court- Supreme Court of India requesting to allow him to exchange Rs. 5.5 lakh in the demonetised notes of 500’s and 1000’s that were seized from him during the investigation.

Abhishek claimed the money returned to him in February this year, was much after the deadline for the exchange got over. The Delhi Police booked Abhishek in the scandal, and the notes were seized from him in person on the 25th of September, 2013.

A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khedar asked his counsel, Manjeet Singh Ahluwalia after taking note of the grievances to produce the seizure of memo that Delhi Police prepared. These documents kept a record of the specific currency that the convict had produced.

Shukla said he was not at fault because the money was lying with Delhi Police in the Malkhana. If there is a default, it was on the part of the Delhi Police, he said.

Ahluwalia asked the court to issue a direction to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India to allow Abhishek to deposit the notes with an explanation for not being able to produce the notes during the time the window was open for exchange.

Abhishek went on to claim that he had personally visited the RBI office for the exchange, but the bank had declined him the opportunity to get the currency exchanged. In reference to the notice, pointing to the December 30, 2016, ordinance that makes possession of such notes illegal and a criminal offence.

He has additionally provided the record of the letter. The Bank told him that except Indian citizens who were outside the country between the 9th of November and the 30th of December, 2016 would only be allowed to exchange the notes and the others will not be allowed to be involved in any exchange.