Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance asking Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel to appear before it on December 22.
Top sources and members of the committee confirmed that Patel had been “invited” to appear before it.
“Summoning is too strong a word; we have invited Patel to meet us on December 22 to largely discuss the decision to demonetise 86 percent of the country’s currency, and we have received confirmation that he will be doing so,” said a senior MP and member of the committee.
The meeting is not likely to be smooth sailing for the Central bank Governor, as it is not only headed by former Union minister M. Veerappa Moily, but also has one of Mr Patel’s predecessors in the RBI Governor’s job — former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as a member.
Members said questions to Patel would focus on the reasons for the decision, data on just how much black money has actually been wiped out of the system, and the maintenance of status quo as far as interest rates were concerned, despite liquidity flowing into the system.
Other members of the committee include former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindhia, Professor Saugato Roy of the Trinamool Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Satish Chandra Mishra, and AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh.
