KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued on Thursday a show-cause notice to the deputy director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime wing for taking action against those possessing cryptocurrency.

A division bench of the SHC restrained FIA from taking further action in this regard. Why is the agency taking action when it has no jurisdiction to do so, the court questioned, expressing displeasure over FIA’s action against people possessing Bitcoins. The court directed the deputy director to appear in personal capacity at the next hearing to explain his position.

The SHC barred FIA from harassing the citizens until completion of a probe against them. At the previous hearing, the court had asked why cryptocurrency had not yet been regulated? “If using digital currency doesn’t constitute an unlawful act, why is it not being allowed?” In a written reply submitted in the case, the central bank opposed the use of digital currency in the country saying it has already issued an advisory warning against trade in virtual currency as it is not legal tender.

The petitioner stated that the State Bank imposed a ban on the use of digital currency on April 6, 2018 despite that developing countries are earning significant revenue from the cryptocurrency which doesn’t pose any threat to national interests. NNI