Mumbai, Oct 4 (Mumbai Mirror): The Bombay High Court on Monday asked Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to file reply within four weeks in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) highlighting the difficulty faced by blind persons in identifying currency notes and coins.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, while hearing a petition filed by National Association for the Blind (NAB), asked the central bank to submit its response within a month and allowed the petitioner to file a rejoinder within two weeks of RBI filing its reply.

Joaquim Rapose, secretary of NAB, filed the PIL through lawyer Uday Warunjikar seeking directions to RBI to include features in coins and currency notes so the blind could identify them easily.

In his petition, Rapose said blind persons have started facing difficulties in identifying notes and coins of various denominations in the recent years.

"Earlier, blind or people with poor vision were easily able to identify coins and notes as there were unique marks on each coin. Some coins were raised/embossed and tactile differentiation was available for recognition of the coins," the petition says.

Rapose said the coins of various denominations and notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500 have no distinct identification marks, which can help blind persons in differentiating between them.

The petitioner also said the RBI had sent a written request to NAB asking it to give a feedback on the designs of new coins and currency notes.

In response to the request, Rapose claimed to have sent suggestions regarding the shape of the coins and notes, including those relating to their breadth, thickness and colour combination.

Similarly, in case of coins, the petitioner said he had pointed out that the coins of Rs 2, Re 1and 50 paise hardly differed from each other.

"There should be coins having proper borders, different designs, shapes and texture for avoiding confusion," Rapose said.