The Supreme Court of India in its oral observations questioned why the central government had not proceeded in putting regulations in place to govern cryptocurrency. A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh were hearing a bail proceeding of one—Shailesh Babulal Bhatt, who is facing scam charges across multiple states.
The Court said that it was aware that cryptocurrencies trade in an international market, but added that we couldn’t ignore reality. “There are new kinds of mechanisms evolving for international trade, also. Banning may be shutting your eyes to ground reality. But what about regulating it? We aren’t experts. Experts would examine it, but some steps to regulate it and have an eye on it (are necessary),” the judges quipped.
The Supreme Court made it clear that banning cryptocurrency is not the right solution. They also noted that by taxing gains from crypto trade, the government is some way is legally recognising it. Currently, the Indian government has levied a 30% tax on all profits from crypto transactions. It also charges a 1% TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) of the sale consideration.
The bench also noted that he larger issue of a policy on cryptocurrency can be dealt with separately but for now it simply need clarity on whether the litigant was a victim or a victimizer. The court has given CBI another 10 days to finish its investigation in this particular case and posted the next hearing for May 30, 2025.
