India’s Supreme Court has questioned why the country’s central government cannot formulate a “clear cut” policy on crypto regulation, the Economic Times reported on Monday.
Justice Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said that there is “parallel under-market” for cryptocurrency that can affect the economy.
“Why does centre not come out with a clear cut policy on regulating cryptocurrency?” they posed. “By regulating the cryptocurrency, you can keep an eye on the trade.”
Justice Kant added that bitcoin (BTC) trading is “an illicit trade more or less like a Hawala business,” referring to a term used for the informal transferring of money from one place to another without the actual movement of physical money. Hawala transactions are illegal in India.
The justices posed their question to Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who requested to seek instruction on the matter. They were speaking while hearing a bail petition filed by Shailesh Babulal Bhatt, a Gujarat resident accused of crypto-related fraud.
Bhati had claimed Bhatt was one of the biggest BTC trade aggregators in Gujarat, victimizing others with promises of high returns.
The court however said that it could not ascertain whether Bhatt was a victimizer or a victim, lamenting the government’s inability to come up with a clear regime regulating cryptocurrency.
India’s government had plans to release a discussion paper outlining its crypto policy stance by September last year, though this has yet to materialize.
A senior official said in February that the delay was due to plans to review the effect of more crypto-friendly policies from the U.S. under President Trump.