NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a plea filed by UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari against a trial court order declaring him a “fugitive economic offender”.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna upheld the trial court order in connection with a money laundering case. The trial court in July 2025 declared Bhandari a “fugitive economic offender” on a plea by the ED under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. The order enables the agency to confiscate all of Bhandari’s assets worth crores.
“Appeal dismissed,” the judge said. India’s plea seeking his extradition was earlier turned down by a UK court. The trial court here, however, said that the “extradition attempt may have failed, but it will not make the accused an angel or immune from prosecution for the violation of Indian laws”. According to the ED, Bhandari “absconded” to the UK in 2016.
The ED filed its first chargesheet against Bhandari in 2020. It filed a criminal case against Bhandari and others in February 2017, taking cognisance of an I-T chargesheet.
What did Bhandari’s counsel say?
The counsel representing Bhandari had opposed the ED’s move to declare him a fugitive offender, claiming his “stay could not be called illegal in the UK as he has a legal right to reside there, and the government of India is bound by the judgement of the United Kingdom court... Bhandari is legally living there, and declaring him a ‘fugitive’ in that scenario is legally wrong.” According to the ED, Bhandari “absconded” to the UK in 2016. The ED filed its first chargesheet against Bhandari in 2020.