The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017

(1) This Act may be called the Specified Bank Notes(Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017. (2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 31st day of December, 2016.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (a) "appointed day" means the 31st day of December, 2016; (b) "grace period" means the period to be specified by the Central Government, by notification,during which the specified bank notes can be deposited in accordance with this Act; (c) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette; (d) "Reserve Bank" means the Reserve Bank of India constituted by the Central Governmentunder section 3 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934); (e) "specified bank note" means a bank note of the denominational value of five hundred rupeesor one thousand rupees of the series existing on or before the 8th day of November, 2016. (2) The words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Reserve Bank ofIndia Act, 1934 (2 of 1934) or the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949) shall have the meaningsrespectively assigned to them in those Acts.

Onand from the appointed day, notwithstanding anything contained in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934(2 of 1934) or any other law for the time being in force, the specified bank notes which have ceased to belegal tender, in view of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, number S.O.3407(E), dated the 8th November, 2016, issued under sub-section (2) of section 26 of the Reserve Bank ofIndia Act, 1934, shall cease to be liabilities of the Reserve Bank under section 34 and shall cease to have theguarantee of the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 26 of the said Act.

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3, thefollowing persons holding specified bank notes on or before the 8th day of November, 2016 shall be entitledto tender within the grace period with such declarations or statements, at such offices of the Reserve Bank orin such other manner as may be specified by it, namely: (i) a citizen of India who makes a declaration that he was outside India between the 9th November,2016 to 30th December, 2016, subject to such conditions as may be specified, by notification, by theCentral Government; or (ii) such class of persons and for such reasons as may be specified by notification, by theCentral Government. (2) The Reserve Bank may, if satisfied, after making such verifications as it may consider necessary that thereasons for failure to deposit the notes within the period specified in the notification referred to in section 3, aregenuine, credit the value of the notes in his Know Your Customer compliant bank account in such manner asmay be specified by it. (3) Any person, aggrieved by the refusal of the Reserve Bank to credit the value of the notes undersub-section (2), may make a representation to the Central Board of the Reserve Bank within fourteendays of the communication of such refusal to him. Explanation.For the purposes of this section, the expression "Know Your Customer compliant bankaccount" means the account which complies with the conditions specified in the regulations made by theReserve Bank under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949).

On and from theappointed day, no person shall, knowingly or voluntarily, hold, transfer or receive any specified banknote: Provided that nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the holding of specified bank notes (a) by any person (i) up to the expiry of the grace period; or (ii) after the expiry of the grace period, (A) not more than ten notes in total, irrespective of the denomination; or (B) not more than twenty-five notes for the purposes of study, research or numismatics; (b) by the Reserve Bank or its agencies, or any other person authorised by the Reserve Bank; (c) by any person on the direction of a court in relation to any case pending in the court. 1[(d) by the law enforcement agencies, such as the Central Board of Direct Taxes, CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes and Enforcement Directorate on production of the documents authorisingsuch seizure or confiscation, as the case may be.]