The Supreme Court in India postpones RBI “crypto ban” petition from July 20 to September 11

• The petition hearing goes beyond the judgment; it would clarify the government’s stand on cryptocurrencies.
• The petition was postponed for the authorities, like SEBI to prepare and file their responses.

India’s cryptocurrency community will continue to grapple with lack of banking support for a little longer. The long-awaited petition hearing against the central bank in the country has been pushed from July 20 to September 11, 2018, by the Supreme Court. The Reserve Bank of India announced back in April this year that commercial banks had been directed to cut all ties with crypto-related businesses. The “ban” took effect on July 5 and cryptocurrency exchanges in the country have been forced to shift from all dealings with fiat to crypto-to-crypto trading.

The hearing has been postponed because SEBI together with a number of other parties had not filed their responses. The crypto community was looking forward to this day, which would be quite decisive for them, as opposed to staying in limbo. In the meantime, most of the exchanges have resulted to peer-to-peer support platforms such as Localbitcoin, Coindelta and Koinex. Some of the largest exchanges like Zebpay, Coinone and BuyUcoin have already removed all fiat deposits and withdrawals.

The petition hearing goes beyond the judgment; it would clarify the government’s stand on cryptocurrencies in the country. Moreover, it would help the community understand the reservations the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has on the digital assets.

It was reported that prominent attorneys of the Indian Judiciary would sit on the panel including the Chief Justice. Dipak Misra. AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud were to be on the panel while the AGI, KK Venugopa was expected to be present for the hearing as well according to the Supreme Court directive.

The petitioner, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), on the other hand, was being represented by, senior counsel Mr Gopal Subramaniam; a prominent advocate. At the opening of the hearing, Mr Gopal Subramaniam according to Crypto Kannon began by saying “In the world of digitalisation, such a Circular from RBI would be a loss.”

The court said after a few arguments by the IAMAI representative, that because the petition is seeking regulation, responses from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) would be required alongside a few other authorities. Moreover, some correspondents had not filed their responses to the petition. Therefore, the court directed they do so before the arguments continue. The petition was then postponed to September 11, 2018, to give time for the authorities to prepare and file their responses.