UK Court Approves Extradition Of Arms Dealer Sanjay Bhandari Facing CBI, ED Probes

A court in the United Kingdom has allowed for the extradition of arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari to India. 

Bhandari faces money laundering and tax evasion charges in India and is being investigated by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). 

There were two requests for the extradition of Bhandari. The first was related to tax evasion and the second was related to money laundering. 

Bhandari, 60, is based out of London. He has been on bail on a security provided to the court as he fought extradition on the cases against him by the CBI and ED and is expected to appeal against Monday's magistrates' court order.

What has the UK court said?

District Judge Michael Snow, who heard the case against Bhandari at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London earlier this year, concluded that there are no bars to him being extradited and decided to send the case to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who is authorised to order the extradition based on the court order.

"As I am satisfied that extradition is compatible with the defendant’s Convention rights, I must send this case to the Secretary of State [Braverman] for a decision as to whether the defendant is to be extradited," said Snow said in his judgment.

"However, I only do so on the basis of the Assurances that have been provided by the Government," said Snow with reference to Indian government's assurances that Bhandari will be held in a separate cell at Tihar Jail in New Delhi with relevant healthcare provisions while he faces trial in India.

The Indian government's extradition request for Bhandari had been certified by then UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in June 2020 and he was arrested on an extradition warrant the following month that year.

The cases against Sanjay Bhandari

Bhandari is an arms dealer who is implicated in several cases of corruption, including money laundering and tax evasion. He was in India until 2016 and was a resident for tax purposes.

The Sunday Guardian in 2018 reported, citing Commerce Ministry data, that Bhandari was at the time director of 14 companies. Of these companies, three were under the scanner at the time for tax evasion. 

"You will work on Pakistan and Afghanistan. There is little to spin there. The hawkish approach, which VIF is expected to take, would more or less be factual, so it shouldn't be that hard," reported The Guardian. 

In 2016, Bhandari was raided by the Income Tax Department and confidential Ministry of Defence documents were found in his possession, said the report, adding that 

Bhandari is also accused of receiving $5 million from Samsung to woo officials for an ONGC project in Gujarat, according to Deccan Hearald. 

"He allegedly charged a consultancy fee of USD 49.99 lakh from it, in violation of the integrity clause in the contract agreement between the Korean major and OPAL...The investigators claimed that Bhandari had acquired a property in London's Bryson Square using the money," reported Herald.

According to the court documents, Bhandari is wanted in India for intended prosecution for an offence of money laundering contrary to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 and for offences of tax evasion contrary to the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Asset), Imposition of Tax Act 2015 and Income Tax Act 1961.

Bhandari is accused of concealing overseas assets, using backdated documents, benefiting from the assets not declared to the Indian tax authorities and then falsely informing the authorities that he did not possess any overseas assets. He denies the allegations.

The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), on behalf of the Indian authorities, argued that Bhandari's conduct amounts to "fraud by false representation" in the British jurisdiction. 

(With PTI inputs)