On January 16 (local time), British home secretary Suella Braverman cleared the extradition of fugitive arms dealer and Robert Vadra’s aide Sanjay Bhandari to India. The move came two months after a Westminster court in London ordered his extradition. Bhandari can appeal against the extradition in High Court in the next 14 days. Notably, reports suggest that the extradition was cleared last week itself.
Hindustan Times quoted an unnamed official saying, “Bhandari’s extradition was cleared by the UK Home Secretary last week. This brings us closer to bringing him here, but he can still go to the high court.”
In the court order on November 7, district judge Michael Snow ordered Bhandari’s extradition. It was then sent to the home secretary for approval. The order read, “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. However, I only do so based on the assurances that have been provided by the government.”
During the extradition hearings, counsels of the Indian government assured the court that Bhandari would be held in a separate cell at Tihar Jail, New Delhi. Furthermore, healthcare provisions will be taken care of during the trial against Bhandari in India.
The Indian government argued during the hearing that his conduct amounts to “fraud by false representation” in the British Jurisdiction. However, the legal team of Bhandari called the allegations baseless and accused the government of India of a “political witch hunt”.
The investigation against Sanjay Bhandari was initiated in 2019 under corruption charges in a 2009 deal worth Rs 2,985 crore to produce 75 PC-7 trainer aircraft from Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Furthermore, he is under investigation for alleged money laundering for properties allegedly linked to Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi. The properties are allegedly located in London.
Vadra was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in May 2019. Reportedly, he denied all charges. In the charge sheet filed in June 2020, ED said that Bhandari flew to the UK in 2016. There he met certain people and tried to transfer property ownership of his foreign assets and companies using forged, backdated documents in the name of a UAE-based trust. He is also accused of accessing confidential defence documents.
The Indian authorities accused him of evading taxes between July 1, 2015, and February 7, 2017, while he was living in India. Furthermore, it was alleged that Sanjay Bhandari had a number of companies in India and in overseas jurisdictions, including the UK, Dubai and Panama. He allegedly skipped informing Indian authorities of his properties to avoid taxes, and forged documents and distanced himself from his properties.
In June 2020, two extradition requests from India were certified by then-home secretary Priti Patel. He was later arrested in July 2020 and released on bail pending a court hearing.
Bhandari is not the only fugitive facing extradition to India. In April 2020, the high court in the UK cleared fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya’s extradition. However, it was delayed for further proceedings. In February 2021, a Westminster court-ordered extradition of fugitive businessman Nirav Modi. He appealed in the high court. However, it was rejected. Nirav was also disallowed from going to the Supreme Court.
