'Misplaced and without jurisdiction': Arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari rejects ED's plea to declare him a 'fugitive'

Arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari has strongly opposed the Enforcement Directorate 's (ED) plea to declare him a "fugitive" in connection with a black money case , telling a Delhi court on April 19 that his stay in the United Kingdom was legal. This follows a ruling from the London high court that denied his extradition to India. Bhandari, who has been living in the UK since fleeing India in 2016, claimed that the ED’s application was "vague, misplaced and without jurisdiction" and did not meet the requirements under the Fugitive Offenders Act.

In February, the high court of justice in London allowed Bhandari to appeal his extradition, citing concerns about his safety in Tihar jail. The court found that he would be at "real risk" of extortion, threats, and "actual violence" from other prisoners and officials in the Indian prison system. Furthermore, the court ruled that Bhandari’s extradition would violate his human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically Article 3, which relates to protection from inhuman or degrading treatment. Earlier this month, the UK High Court also dismissed the Indian government’s appeal to challenge the decision in Britain’s Supreme Court.

Bhandari’s lawyer, senior advocate Maninder Singh, argued that his client’s presence in the UK could not be deemed illegal, as he had a legal right to reside there. Singh emphasised that the Indian government was bound by the UK court’s decision, and declaring Bhandari a "fugitive" in this context would be legally incorrect.

Singh further pointed out that the ED’s application failed to provide an assessment by the income tax department regarding the value of the black money case. As per the Fugitive Offenders Act, a person can only be declared a fugitive if the value involved exceeds Rs 100 crore. Singh argued that the ED had misled the court by suggesting that the case exceeded this threshold, as the income tax department had previously submitted that the amount was below Rs 100 crore. Additionally, Bhandari was discharged from non-bailable warrants after the UK High Court’s ruling, and no fresh warrants were pending against him, Singh stated.

This legal battle comes amid Bhandari’s involvement in other high-profile cases, including an ongoing money laundering probe linked to Robert Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Bhandari has also been mentioned in relation to the ongoing investigations into fugitive Mehul Choksi, who recently cited the same UK court ruling in his own extradition case.