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"Do not play games with this court, we are not some Tis Hazari Court," said Justice DY Chandrachud today, while lashing out at Gain BitCoin scam accused Ajay Bharadwaj for not complying with the last order of the court asking him to reveal the wallet credentials as per the last order.

The bench, also comprising Justice Surya Kant was hearing a bail cancellation plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Ajay Bhardwaj in Gain Bitcoin scam. He was arrested in March 2018 and later was granted bail by the Supreme Court on April 3, 2019. The GainBitcoin CEO Bharadwaj is an accused in Rs. 2000 crore crypto currency scam Ajay Bharadwaj.

When the matter came up for hearing today, Senior Advocate Aishwarya Bhati, ASG, informed the court that Bharadwaj has not revealed the wallet credential to ED as undertaken by his lawyers on the last date of hearing. She further submitted that he has not be cooperating with the investigation either.  A visibly infuriated Justice Chandrachud remarked, “Don’t play games with the courts.”

Justice Chandrachud further said, “Supreme Court is not like a district court where you can make a statement and not follow it. We will dismiss your matter.”

Sidharth Dave, Sr. Adv appearing for Bharadwaj submitted that they intend to reveal the credentials to the lawyers of ED. He further submitted that the ED does not understand how the BitCoin transactions work, while Pune police understand the same. He further submitted that Pune police have misappropriated the Bitcoins after changing the password of the wallet.

Justice Chandrachud, unconvinced, remarked,
“The dignity of the Supreme Court has to be maintained. We are not some Tis Hazari court. You make a statement before the court and you play with us? When will you comply?”

Dave at this point submitted that they will comply by next week. The court on issuance of warning to Bharadwaj adjourned the matter to next week.

It is to be noted that the court had asked the Government to take a clear stand  on legality of bitcoins in India. While presenting the Budget 2022, the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the government has only taxed the profits emanating from cryptocurrency transactions and not done anything to legalise or ban or regulate it. Recently, the Supreme Court observed that “money laundering is a crime worse than murder, akin to terrorism as it destabilises the Nation’s financial system”. 

Case title: Ajay Bharadwaj Vs Union of India