Bitcoin ATM Owner arrested in India for indirectly evading regulators and installing Bitcoin ATM.

The arrest happened after due police investigations on October 23, 2018.

It is very clear that the Indian Government is exhibiting zero tolerance to cryptocurrency.  The arrest is clearly indicative of the “doctrine of colorable legislation.”

The principle of colorable legislation applies in the arrest: “What cannot be done directly, cannot be done indirectly.”

The statutory regulation already warned about the status of cryptocurrency investments in India. However, the Co-founder Harish BV felt he was smart enough to bypass the regulations by clothing the Bitcoin ATM concept in a different way.

However, the legislation is smarter and does not exhibit tolerance to the law-evading over-smartness of the ATM owner.

The owner was arrested for allegedly installing the first Bitcoin ATM Kiosk in Bengaluru, India.  He was arrested for installing the ATM without due approvals and for doing it against regulations.

The police investigations unveiled the fact that the ATM had been installed without any kind of approvals.

The 37-year-old Harish BV hails from Tumakuru in Bengaluru. He is the Co-founder of Unocoin Technologies, and he operated the ATM at Kemp Fort Mall at the Old Airport Road.

The Times of India report stated that the Central Crime branch seized a mobile phone, three credit cards, five debit cards, a passport and five seals of the Unicoin Company and a cryptocurrency device that is valued at 1.8 lakhs in INR.

Harish was further produced at the court after arrest, and he has been ordered to be under police custody for seven days.  The police stated that more of similar arrests are likely.  The police as well requested the public requesting them to not fall prey to the prospects of making huge profits through the make rich cryptocurrency schemes.

Sathvik Viswanath, the co-founder of Sathvik Viswanath, took the defense of their business model stating that it is not illegal for Indians to buy Bitcoin.  He stated that it was completely perfect for them to sell Bitcoins and completely perfect to buy Bitcoins as the process was not illegal.

Of note, the Union Government of India provided directions to their banks about not offering cryptocurrency trading facilities.  Regardless of the warning, Unocoin moved ahead, and they have set up their first kind of ATM Kiosk in Bengaluru.  This ATM Kiosk was facilitating cryptocurrency trading.

Moving forward, in further defense statements in the official website of Unocoin as issued by Vishwanath, he has to convey that the notice that was provided by the Finance Ministry about cryptocurrencies did not talk about the legality of cryptocurrencies.  Therefore, he stated that the legality of Bitcoin and other kinds of cryptocurrencies stays unchanged.  He further stated that the decision provided by RBI was in line with early statements that were related to the risks about crypto.

Whatever the reasons, the Unocoin Company has to state in defense, that the Indian legislation or judiciary is not ready to accept indirect manipulation of crooked business owners.