Plea before Bombay HC seeking Regulation of Cryptocurrency Market in India

The Bombay High Court will hear a petition seeking to regulate the Indian cryptocurrency market.

A Mumbai lawyer filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the Bombay High Court, asking the court to direct the Central Government to draught regulations to oversee the usage and sale of Bitcoin in the country.

The PIL filed by Advocate Aditya Kadam seeks the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus instructing the Central Government to take immediate appropriate action to implement statutory laws or rules to protect the interests of all Indian people.

If the government is not directed by the court, Kadam believes that “they may not take steps on an urgent basis, which may cause immense prejudice, injustice, harm, injury, and monetary losses not only to the citizens but also to the nation itself as it will lose an enormous amount of revenue through taxation.”

The petitioner attempted to highlight the “imminent threat of an increase in the number of money laundering cases, illicit drug trade, terror funding by the sale of cryptocurrencies that the government authorities have failed to control” through the plea.

The PIL also discusses the unregulated cryptocurrency economy, which harms investors’ rights because there is no legal process to resolve their grievances. The PIL stated that, despite the Supreme Court’s decision in the matter of Internet Mobile Association of India versus Reserve Bank of India, the Central government had failed to adopt sufficient legislation to protect individuals’ interests.

According to Kadam’s PIL, the lack of a clear policy on bitcoin has resulted in massive losses to the state’s revenue. He claims that because there are no rules in the cryptocurrency market, anyone may set up a trading platform and thereby deceive innocent investors for illicit objectives such as fraud or terror financing. Kadam added that various countries, including Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the European Union, Japan, and others, have implemented statutory legislation to address cryptocurrency trading and platforms.

Kadam stated that he had made several representations to various government authorities, including the Central Government, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the Reserve Bank of India, on cryptocurrency market difficulties. However, he has yet to receive a response to his representation. He was obligated to approach the High Court seeking intervention to protect citizens’ interests because of the authorities’ “lackadaisical attitude,” he claimed.

The PIL will be heard in due course of time.