A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha has orderedthe State Bank of Pakistan to state whether a law exists to preventcryptocurrency business in Pakistan.
In a hearing against the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over itsalleged harassment of crypto-traders, the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued ashow-cause notice to the agency’s Cybercrime Deputy Director, AbdulGhaffar, to explain the circumstances under which the agency had registereda case against the petitioner.——————————
The SHC expressed its displeasure with the Federal Ministry of Finance andthe FIA for not filing statements in response to a petition regardingcryptocurrency as the bench had granted them a final chance to submitreplies in the previous hearing in April 2018.
SBP Joint Director, Rehan Masood, informed the bench that the central bankhad never declared cryptocurrency illegal.——————————
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The bench later directed Masood to appear for the next hearing on 13January 2021 to inform the court about whether Pakistan has laws, rules, orregulations that prohibit cryptocurrency business.
Meanwhile, the petitioner has requested a restraining order against the FIAto prevent it from arresting the owners of virtual assets who are willingto pay their taxes.
