The Sindh High Court (SHC) has asked the Finance Ministry to submit its recommendations on the legal status of cryptocurrency in the country within two months.
The brief ruling came during a hearing of a petition seeking the legalization of cryptocurrency in Pakistan. The judges hearing the petition also expressed annoyance over the recently submitted by the Finance Ministry.
During the hearing, the bench grilled the lawyer of the Finance Ministry for submitting a poorly crafted report despite being given three months. The lawyer said that the Ministry has so far held two meetings with the relevant stakeholders in this regard.
The lawyer added that legalizing cryptocurrency in the country is a complicated matter and more time is required to find consensus on it. The bench grilled the lawyer and observed that the Finance Ministry is dragging on a simple matter unnecessarily.
While adjourning the hearing till 13 June, the bench ordered the lawyer to ensure the Finance Ministry submits the recommendations on legalizing cryptocurrency in the country at the next hearing.
Note here that while attending the inaugural Pakistan Blockchain Summit 2022 earlier this year in January, the former Science and Technology Minister, Shibli Faraz, had revealed that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and Finance Division intend to legalize cryptocurrency and are working towards it.