Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today defended RBI Governor Urjit Patel before Parliamentary Panel on the issue of demonetisation. During the hearing, Manmohan asked Patel not to answer all questions that may cause problem, sources said.
Patel on Wednesday faced some tough questions from MPs as he could not set a time frame for return of normalcy in the banking system.
However, the RBI Governor informed the MPs that the central bank had replaced Rs 9.2 lakh crore or 60 per cent of demonetised currency.
Also, Patel could not give a definite number of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 bills returned post demonetisation as RBI was still tabulating those.
Sources said the Governor was spared a tough grilling at the meeting of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance as senior MPs including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened to say RBI as an institution needs to be respected.