Indian Supreme Court Postpones Hearing on Crypto Embargo

The Supreme Court of India has decided to postpone the full hearing of a case against the Reserve Bank of India’s embargo on financial institutions’ transactions with cryptocurrency-based entities.

Kashif Raza, co-founder of Indian news house Crypto Kanoon, explained in ant interview on the 14th of January what was at stake in the case and asserted that the postponement should not discourage the crypto community in the country.

Unlawful Prohibition
As previously published, cryptocurrency exchanges and other sector related companies in India have had their business operations halted by the RBI since April 2018, after the apex bank placed an embargo on financial institutions’ transactions with cryptocurrency entities.

Since the implementation of the contentious embargo, different public and private institutions have appealed to the courts to lift the embargo as it was grossly unconstitutional.

Kashif explained that today’s case was a compilation of several petitions by different bodies, and was filed to the court by the Internet and Mobile Association of India.

The IAMAI non-profit organization with a mission to grow and improve the online and mobile services space and to stand in for the involved parties of the internet industry and appeal to the government or regulatory bodies.

Kashif emphasized that the major argument in the case is an appeal against the embargo constitutional reasons.

An Unfavorable Condition for the Crypto Space
As the cryptocurrency community in the country anticipates subsequent outcomes, the embargo has harmed the cryptocurrency space in India.

Major exchanges in the country have had to switch their business model and operations to a more acceptable practice by the RBI, others have been forced to end their services in the country altogether. Still, it seems like more challenges are yet to come.

At the end of last year, the Indian government stalled a draft bill by Parliament to completely prohibit the use of cryptocurrency.

The draft bill which was titled “Banning of Cryptocurrency & Regulation of Official Digital Currencies”, was said to not only completely prohibit the use of cryptocurrencies in the country but to also lay the groundwork for a sovereign CBDC.