MOSCOW, Aug 7: Commercial banks and other operators in Russia's embryonic private sector have taken the central bank to court over its decision to withdraw from circulation billions of roubles' worth of banknotes, court officials said, reports AFP.

The Association of Russian Banks, the Union of Russian Stock Exchanges, and the local office of the International Association of Business Directors asked the constitutional court to declare unconstitutional the central bank's notice of July 24 to withdraw notes Issued before 1993, the officials said yesterday.

The notice-"violates the citizens' constitutional rights an^ freedoms', the plaintiffs told the

The application argued that they withdrawal also contravened the state's obligation to "protect private property".

The withdrawal initially caused a panic reaction, triggering long queues outside banks and the condemnation of leading politicians.

President Boris Yeltsin eased the measure by extending the period in which the old notes could be exchanged for new ones, but the move remained controversial.