The Supreme Court on Monday directed GainBitcoin co-founder Ajay Bharadwaj to disclose to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) the username and password of his crypto wallet and also cooperate in the ongoing probe into the Rs 20,000-crore scam.
Extending interim protection from arrest, a Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud asked the counsel to give a list of all cases related to the FIR enable all the cases to be heard together.
“..Subject to Ajay Bharadwaj, accused of running multi-level marketing scheme” of Bitcoin, making full disclosure, his interim protection granted by the court will continue, the court said.
The ED has alleged a fraud of 87,000 bitcoins valued at Rs 20,000 crore.
The SC had on February 25 asked the Centre to clarify its stand on whether bitcoins were illegal. While a clear answer is awaited from the Centre, the ED submitted that the issue of non-cooperation in probe by the accused had nothing to do with the legality of cryptocurrency or bitcoins.
The ED agency sought a direction for disclosure of details of the crypto wallet on the grounds that the accused weren’t cooperating in the investigation by giving “self-contradictory” and evasive statements.