India’s Cryptocurrency Industry on the Verge of Collapsing as Supreme Court Forbids Lower Courts from Petitioning RBI’s Draconian Crypto Ban
At a time when forward-thinking nations such as Germany, Malta and a host of others are formulating laws that would help lure crypto-related businesses to their regions, India is trying its possible best to crush the nascent virtual asset space, not minding the consequences.
In the latest development, the Supreme Court (SC) of India has mandated all high courts in the nation to refrain from petitioning the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over its harsh and unreasonable stance towards bitcoin and other blockchain-based digital currencies.
Also, the Supreme court has directed the HC’s to forward all unresolved cases related to the matter to it.
On April 6, 2018, India’s apex bank suddenly wielded its hammer on bitcoin and other alternative cryptos in the nation, mandating all financial institutions from servicing businesses based on virtual currencies. However, unlike China, the bank gave all crypto related companies a grace period of 3 months to stop their operations.
“In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by the RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling VCs (virtual currencies), the RBI circular read.
The ban prompted all stakeholders in the nation’s cryptospace to petition the RBI, demanding a total reversal of the unreasonable directive. Back in April, a Change.org petition which was written against the RBI move gained over 17,000 signatures within 48 hours.
The documented requested the authorities to have a rethink as baning cryptos may not be a right decision. An excerpt from the document reads:
“There are tens of thousands of youth that have gotten jobs or employment with blockchain and relating companies. This is massive for a government which has not been able to improve the employment rate,” adding “Crypto and blockchain as a concept can’t be stopped. You can just decide whether you want to participate with full throttle or get left behind. The current stance from the government shows they would want to remain left behind after missing the internet revolution first, AI revolution next and now blockchain revolution.”
Per local news source Crypto Kanoon, the Supreme Court is fully backing the actions of the RBI and has ordered that there the HC must not entertain any more petitions against the RBI.
“SC refused to stay RBI circular, and the same is still in operation. No petition can be filed in any High Court of India against 6th April circular, and the already-pending petitions will be transferred to the SC,” wrote Crypto Kanoon on their Twitter handle.
At current, the Supreme Court has adjourned all cases related to cryptos and the RBI until July 20, 2018.
