The law firm representing Bhandari had argued before Justice Saini that he cannot be extradited to India as it would place him at a ‘real risk of suffering inhuman and degrading treatment’. Similar arguments have been used by Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.
Wanted arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is evading Indian justice system by staying in London, has got more time to stay away from India after a high court in London on 19 March decided that he has been able to successfully prove that the 7 November 2022 order of the lower court that had ordered him to be extradited, was violating three sections of the Extradition Act, 2003 of UK.
Bhandari’s extradition by the lower court was confirmed by the then Home Secretary, Suella Braverman on 12 January 2023, which was challenged by Bhandari in the high court.
These three sections are Sections 78 (4), 84 (1) and 87 of the Act.
Section 78(4) talks about whether the offences for which the accused has been charged are extradition offences; Section 84(1) deals with whether there is a prima facie case against the accused in respect of all the charges that he has been accused of; while Section 87 asks the judge to decide whether the person’s extradition would be compatible with the Convention rights within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Justice Pushpinder Saini of the high court, who gave the order to turn down the extradition of Bhandari, was appointed to the court in October 2019, following an open competition run by the Judicial Appointments Commission. In December 2021, Saini was a part of the bench that had rejected India’s appeal to extradite Kuldeep Singh, a senior member of Khalistan Zindabad Force, a banned Sikh organisation, while upholding the lower court order to turn down his extradition on human rights grounds.
The law firm representing Bhandari had argued before Justice Saini that he cannot be extradited to India as it would place him at a “real risk of suffering inhuman and degrading treatment contrary in light of the conditions of prisons in India, the chronic overcrowding and the risk of extortion and violence”.
Secondly, the court believed their argument that once in India, Bhandari will “face a statutory prohibition on the grant of bail, unless he can persuade the local court that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of the offence.”
Thirdly, Justice Saini also agreed with Bhandari’s arguments that there are “chronic delays in the criminal justice system and there was absence of any realistic prospect of him getting bail and hence he will face detention of such length which is termed arbitrary.”
Interestingly, the same grounds have been taken by lawyers of other Indian fugitives who are staying in the United Kingdom, including Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.
With the London High Court accepting Bhandari’s arguments questioning the very basic grounds on which the lower court had allowed his extradition, the Indian government will now have to start from the scratch to convince the court on why these three grounds that Bhandari has raised to stop his extradition to India, are invalid.
The case will now be heard by Royal Courts of Justice later this year.
The order of this court, irrespective of the decision, can be and will be challenged by either of the parties at the Supreme Court of the UK, thereby making it safe to assume that the chances of Bhandari being brought to India in the near future are impossible.
As per Government of India, Bhandari is accused in India of tax evasion and money laundering and by using a number of companies in India and in various overseas jurisdictions, he acquired significant income outside of India and acquired assets in overseas territories without making disclosure of the same to the tax authorities in India. According to the government, from this ill-gotten wealth Bhandari bought:
1. Flat 6, Grosvenor Hill Court, Bourdon Street, London, which he bought in 2013.
2. Flat C-303, Maurya Grandeur Residences, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai in 2014.
3. Flat 2414, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, a property that he had purchased on 9 November 2014.
Apart from these properties in his name, which he had denied of being the owner, Bhandari had incorporated multiple companies to evade tax and indulge in money laundering, according to GOI.
These include, Santech International FZC, Offset India Solutions FZC and Petro Global Technologies Limited in UAE. Another company, Shamlan Gros-1 inc was incorporated in Panama while MVD Global /Vertex Management Holdings Limited was incorporated in Jersey.
Bhandari, through these companies, owned multiple properties including one at 12 Ellerton House, Bryanston Square, London.
The Sunday Guardian’s email to Bhandari’s legal team for a response on these developments did not elicit a response till the time the story went to print.