 Man sues bank as he didn't get a note
By Xie Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-23 07:27 Huang Naihai from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Friday filed a lawsuit against the central bank for not issuing enough commemorative Olympic banknotes, the Nanjing-based Yangtze Evening Post reported yesterday. Huang's lawyer mailed an indictment to the first intermediate people's court of Beijing. The retiree is the first person to sue the central bank over an issue affecting the public interest. Huang said he was dissatisfied with the limited number of notes the central bank issued. "I have been interested in the Olympics since my childhood, so I was eager to get a commemorative note, but the small number issued by the central bank shattered my hopes," Huang said. Cui Wu from the Sunday Law Firm in Jiangsu is representing Huang pro bono. Cui said it will take seven days for the court to decide whether or not to hear the case. If the court accepts and hears the case, the central bank will have 15 days to give evidence and provide a written reply. If it fails to do so, it will lose the case, Cui said, without elaborating. On July 8, the People's Bank of China issued 6 million commemorative 10-yuan notes on the mainland. Some people queued though the night to buy them but many were left disappointed. Despite calls from the public for more of the notes to be issued, the central bank declined. If the central bank agrees to issue more commemorative banknotes, Huang said he will withdraw the suit. If it refuses to respond to his charge, "I will write to Premier Wen Jiabao for justice", he said. "Our goal is more than winning the case," Cui said. "We hope to make the voice of the public heard by the central bank through this trial," he said. (China Daily 07/23/2008 page6) |
