Landmark Judgement of Supreme Court of India
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In a landmark judgement, the Indian Supreme Court delivered a judgement that lifted the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Ban on Crypto Currency in the Internet and Mobile Association of India vs. Reserver Bank of India case (IMAI vs RBI). This is really a welcome judgement not only to the India’s emerging crypto community but for the all people. The human potential of India is so huge. Now, the freelancer from all walks of life—computer coders, creative writers, graphics and animation artistes—can easily work from home for anybody and receive payments in the form of crypto currencies. Gone are the days, where the monolithic central bankers like Reserve Bank of India imposed an illogical ban on the one of the finest technological innovations of our time. And all the parties agree there should be a regulatory framework to monitor the happenings of crypto world.
In this crucial case, the Supreme Court of India held the RBI circulated dated 6th April 2018 is unconstitutional. The 180-page long judgement contains several valid points. As the judges rightly observed words of Satoshi Nakamoto who invented the Bitcoin “The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that’s required to make it work. The Central Bank must be trusted not to debase the currency but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust.”
And citing the policies of several European countries and several states within the US, the 3-judges bench comprising Mr. Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Mr. Justice Aniruddha Bose and Mr. Justice V. Ramasubramanian has said that “the very concept of ‘money’ or ‘currency’ has changed over the years, and different jurisdictions and different statutes have adopted different definitions of ‘money’ and ‘currency’, depending upon the issue sought to be addressed. ” And the judges also quoted the judgement of various other cases happened in India and the US regarding crypto currency. Finally, they concluded “Therefore, in the light of the above discussion, the petitioners are entitled to succeed and the impugned Circular dated 06-04-2018 is liable to be set aside on the ground of proportionality.”
Here, we have to look at the thoughts of renowned Indian politician and Parliament Member Dr. Subramanian Swamy who said “crypto currency is inevitable.” He believes that a blanket ban on crypto currency is useless.
The lifting of crypto ban is very crucial first step to create a blockchain revolution in India. We hope, in the coming years, the Government of India and RBI should understand the power of ‘people-centric’ innovation like the crypto.
By
Srini
Reference: The 180-page judgement of the Supreme Court of India can be accessed from this link.