Replying to an RTI, the ministry claimed that queries raised in the application were ‘vague’.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has no information regarding the whereabouts of arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who had fled India sometime in the latter part of 2016 after a case was registered against him under Official Secrets Act (OSA).
This correspondent had filed an RTI query with the ministry seeking details related to Bhandari, including whether the ministry was aware of his present whereabouts, the details of correspondence issued by it to various countries seeking action against him, the details of the correspondence shared with the concerned country where he is currently residing and the details regarding his extradition, if sought.
In its reply, the MEA has claimed that the “queries raised in the RTI application were vague and no such information is available in the records of this ministry.”
However, even a cursory glance at the RTI application would make it clear that the queries were specific in nature and had asked the ministry about the steps it had taken so far in the case and also whether it is aware of the whereabouts of Bhandari.
The arms dealer’s name had cropped up recently in the Rafale fighter aircraft case after it emerged that one of his companies, Offset India Solutions Private Limited (OIS), had tried to become the offset partner in India for Dassault Aviation, the French manufacturer of Rafale fighter jets.
Earlier in January this year, a Delhi trial court had declared Bhandari an “absconder” from law after he refused to appear before the court, which had issued a non-bailable warrant against him in February 2017, months after it emerged that he had fled India. The said order was, however, quashed by the Delhi High Court in July 2018 during which the court stated that the order would not affect Bhandari’s status of a proclaimed offender. In March 2018, the government accepted in Parliament that Bhandari was no longer in India when then Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar, while replying to a question, stated that Bhandari was among the 31 individuals who were absconding from law and had fled abroad. In April 2018, the MEA had impounded Bhandari’s passport after a Red Corner notice was issued against him through Interpol.