RBI Vs Crypto: Supreme Court to hear longstanding case on March 29

The Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hear ongoing cryptocurrency case on March 29 as the four-week time given to the government to formulate crypto regulation comes to an end.

In February, the apex court had asked the Narendra Modi-led govt to present its crypto regulations in 28 days. The two-judge bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Vineet Saran said that it is giving the govt the last opportunity to present its stand on crypto.

The court is reported to first hear about the regulatory framework for cryptocurrency from the government before deciding the constitutionality of the RBI circular.

The govt has constituted a panel to under India’s economic affairs secretary, Subhash Chandra Garg to frame a recommendation around cryptocurrency. Since Nov 2017, the panel has been working on it. But no concrete policy has been in made in this regard.

According to the New Indian Express report, the second interdisciplinary committee suggested framing a new law for regulating that space with harsh riders instead of a complete ban. Though the report by Garg’s panel has not been made public and no official announcement has been made so far.

In the absence of a timeline for policy formulation, the crypto community in India find themselves in limbo for more than a year.

In April last year, RBI had ordered banks e-wallets, and payment gateway providers to withdraw support for cryptocurrency exchanges and other businesses dealing with it.

The announcement created panic in the Indian trading market. It also reportedly led to falling down in prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Several stakeholders challenged the RBI decision in the SC.