HC notice to govt, RBI on plea seeking SIT probe in WazirX cyberattack case
This story was originally published at 18:39 IST on 15 January 2025
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NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the government, the Reserve Bank of India, and other parties on a petition that sought direction to constitute a special investigation team to conduct a thorough probe into alleged cyberattacks on online crypto exchange WazirX, as well as other violations associated with the platform's operation.
The case has its genesis from a cyberattack on WazirX platform on Jul. 18 that resulted in the theft of digital assets exceeding $230 million from one of its multi-signature wallets. Also known as a "multisig wallet", a multi-signature wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet that requires two or more signatures to confirm and carry out a transaction.
Justice Sachin Datta said that WazirX will have to pay the money if the fault was on their part. "If someone from the dark web breached your platform, you cannot say sorry," said Justice Datta. "I am curious to know if the government will wash its hands off in its affidavit," he added.
Counsel for the RBI said the central bank will not regulate platforms such as WazirX. "The stand of the RBI is unfortunate. You may turn a blind eye towards crypto; it could threaten the financial system of the country. What are you doing to regulate that?" said Justice Datta.
After the cyberattack in July, WazirX had filed an application with the Singapore High Court to present and vote on a restructuring plan to provide a fair and quick recovery for investors whose cryptocurrency was locked. Petitioner Sudhir Verma and other parties, users of WazirX, had sought to restrict the platform from restructuring.
Counsel for WazirX said that if the petitioners claim to be users, they would have joined proceedings in the Singapore court. "It's onerous to be required to attend proceedings in Singapore. If you (WazirX) are going ahead with the restructuring then we need to know how you will indemnify, don't want third parties to step in," said the court. End
US$1 = INR 86.36
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Nishant Maher
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