Court orders confiscation of arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari's assets

A Delhi court has ordered the confiscation of properties belonging to UK-based arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, escalating his legal troubles in India.

A Delhi court on Tuesday directed the confiscation of UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari's properties in India worth Rs 30 crore, under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.

Special judge Sanjay Jindal noted that on July 5 last year, Bhandari was declared a fugitive economic offender in connection with a money laundering case, following which the present court was tasked with the consequential confiscation proceedings.

The judge said the properties sought to be confiscated by the Directorate of Enforcement were in two categories.

"The first category includes properties that are claimed to be in the exclusive name or control of the respondent (Bhandari). The second category includes properties stated to be held by the benamidars, or the companies beneficially owned by the respondent," he said.

The judge underlined that, according to the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, even if it was not clearly established that a particular property was part of the proceeds of crime, it could very well be confiscated if the fugitive economic offender had an interest in it.

"So, in the absence of any categorical denial and the presence of indirect admissions on part of the respondent, it can be said that the Directorate of Enforcement has successfully discharged its burden to prove that the properties falling in the first category (properties in the name of the respondent), except the foreign immovable properties and bank accounts, are liable to be confiscated," the judge said.

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act was enacted by the Union government to bring to justice those who fled India to evade the law after committing fraud involving at least Rs 100 crore.

Officials said the movable and immovable properties that stand confiscated through the order include nine houses with an acquisition value of Rs 24.36 crore; 30 bank accounts holding deposits worth Rs 53.78 lakh as of December 2019; jewellery valued at Rs 4.19 crore; Rs 31.10 lakh cash, and foreign currency worth Rs 9.95 lakh.

Combined, these assets located in India are worth over Rs 30 crore, they said.

The special judge said the foreign immovable properties and bank accounts needed further verification before confiscation.

Regarding the second category of properties, which were allegedly indirectly owned by Bhandari, the judge underlined that the law required that a notice be sent to people interested in these properties. He said notices were sent to 16 such people, and responses have been received from Bhandari's wife Sonia and Niho Realtors (India) Pvt Ltd.

The properties regarding which objections have been raised by the two noticees required further consideration or verification before a confiscation order was passed, the judge said.

The remaining 14 noticees did not respond to the notices, the court said, adding that in the absence of any contest from their side, it could be assumed that the properties stated to be held by Bhandari through such persons or entities were actually owned by him, and so they could very well be confiscated without any further inquiry.

He, however, said that "the properties which are held in the names of persons or entities other than the respondent and where no notice has been issued, cannot be confiscated summarily."

"The Directorate of Enforcement has to prove with positive evidence that these properties are proceeds of crime or actually owned by the respondent, Sanjay Bhandari," the judge said.

Bhandari's chances of coming to India have been virtually nullified after a UK court ruled against his extradition.

He fled to London in 2016, soon after the income tax department raided him in Delhi.

The Enforcement Directorate filed its first chargesheet against Bhandari in 2020. It filed a criminal case against him and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in February 2017, taking cognisance of an income tax department chargesheet filed against him under the anti-black money law of 2015.

The agency is probing Bhandari's links with Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.