Delhi court allows confiscation of assets linked to fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari

ANew delhi margaret court on tues allowed the arrogation of properties and assets belonging to UK-based arms dealer and runaway economic offender (FEO) Sanjay Bhandari in a money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).The Rouse Avenue Court, according to the order passed by special judge Sanjay Jindal, has directed confiscation of certain properties located in India and abroad, while reserving its decision on the remaining assets for July 18.At the outset, the court said it had divided Bhandari’s properties, which the ED sought to confiscate as part of FEO proceedings, into two categories — List A and List B. A detailed order is awaited.On July 5, Bhandari was declared a fugitive economic offender by a Delhi court, enabling the agency to confiscate his properties across jurisdictions that are considered proceeds of crime or “benami” in nature. The FEO tag also bars him from defending any civil suit in India.The court had then observed that Bhandari had wilfully refused to return to India to face criminal prosecution and that the value of the scheduled offence — an Income Tax case under the Black Money Act — exceeded ₹100 crore, meeting the threshold for declaring him a fugitive offender.FEO proceedings are intended to compel an accused to return to India to face trial through coercive measures such as confiscation or attachment of assets, the court had noted.The ED, through special counsel Zoheb Hossain, had moved an application stating that Bhandari owned multiple “benami” properties in Noida, Gurugram, Delhi, the UK and Dubai, along with alleged bank accounts in his wife’s name and jewellery purportedly acquired as proceeds of crime, for which it sought confiscation.Bhandari’s counsel, senior advocate Maninder Singh, argued that the total value of the scheduled offence did not exceed the mandated ₹100 crore, citing the Income Tax department’s 2020 submissions. He also referred to the UK High Court’s discharge of Bhandari, contending that no fresh warrants were pending against him.According to the ED, Bhandari had undisclosed foreign income of ₹655 crore and evaded tax amounting to ₹196 crore.Alleged to be a middleman in defence deals, he is accused of routing large sums through overseas shell companies and investing in properties in the UAE and the UK between 2009 and 2016.He has also been under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since 2019 in connection with alleged corruption in a ₹2,985-crore deal for procurement of 75 PC-7 trainer aircraft from Swiss manufacturer Pilatus Aircraft, and for allegedly laundering money linked to properties in London associated with Robert Vadra. In that case, NRI businessman C C Thampi was arrested by the ED in January 2020.