The Indian government’s extradition request for Bhandari had been certified by then UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in June 2020 and he was arrested on an extradition warrant the following month that year. District Judge Michael Snow, concluded that there are no bars to him being extradited and decided to send the case to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who is authorized to order the extradition based on the court order.
Sanjay Bhandari, an accused middleman and consultant in arms deals, can be extradited to India to face charges of tax evasion and money laundering. In a historic judgement a British UK court decreed to extradite the fugitive, subject to final approval of the Home Secretary.
The 60-year-old was facing two extradition requests from the Indian enforcement agencies, the first related to money laundering and the second to tax evasion.
District Judge Michael Snow, who heard the case at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London earlier this year, concluded that there should not be any impediment in extraditing the conman and decided to send the case to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who is authorized to order the extradition based on the court order.
He further concluded in his judgement that the extradition is attuned to the defendant’s (Govt. of India) Convention rights and as such it is a suitable case for extradition.
He was also confident with the assurances provided by the Government of India that Bhandari will be held in a separate cell at Tihar Jail in New Delhi with relevant healthcare provisions while he faces trial in India. The Indian government’s extradition request for Bhandari had been certified by the then UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in June 2020 and he was arrested on an extradition warrant the following month that year.
The London-based fugitive has been on bail on a security provided to the court as he fought extradition on the cases against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) and is expected to appeal against Monday’s magistrates’ court order.
Bhandari is wanted in India Tax Evasion and intentional money laundering.
Bhandari is wanted in India for an intentional offence of money laundering contrary to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 and for offences of tax evasion under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Asset), Imposition of Tax Act 2015 and Income Tax Act 1961.
Bhandari, a resident in India, is accused of concealing overseas assets, using backdated documents, besides benefiting from the assets not declared to the Indian tax authorities and then falsely denying of possessing any overseas assets.
While representing the on behalf of the Indian authorities, the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) argued that Bhandari’s conduct tantamount to “fraud by false representation” in the British jurisdiction.
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Ought to set alarm bells for the remaining crooks.
The latest development is ought to set alarm bells for other fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Chokse’s. All these years the United Kingdom has proved to be a safe haven of economic offenders, who are well acquainted with their legal loopholes and hence carry misplaced assurance that they are beyond the ambit of legal authorities. The decision by the UK Court comes with the right intent at a time when the incumbent Sunak Government will look forward to cement its relations with India.
Democracies across the world should come together
Democracies across the world should enhance mutual cooperation in general and create a positive ambience in strengthening ties particularly with India, an emerging global power for establishing a strong and wider platform in their endeavour to fight against all offenders including economic criminals.
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