ED Contests Sanjay Bhandari’s Challenge to ‘Fugitive Offender’ Tag Before Delhi HC
Earlier, the Delhi court had declared Bhandari a fugitive economic offender on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate.;
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, August 8, 2025, opposed a plea by UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari challenging a trial court order that had declared him a “fugitive economic offender.”
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, after briefly hearing the submissions of Additional Solicitor General S V Raju and Special Counsel Zoheb Hussain for ED, called for the trial court’s order sheet to confirm that the non-bailable warrant issued against Sanjay Bhandari has not been cancelled.
At the outset, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Sanjay Bhandari, argued that the prosecution by ED was initiated without completing the tax assessment proceedings. If the assessment itself was incomplete, he contended, there could be no basis to believe that the alleged tax evasion exceeded Rs100 crore.
“See what the Enforcement Directorate does. The ED can’t give a valuation — that has to be done by the Income Tax Department. And then, suddenly, that valuation was also changed by them. Then, all of a sudden, they made it ₹191 crore. In the impugned order, the judge notes that there is no clarity about the exact valuation,” Sibal submitted.
Opposing the contentions raised, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju argued that, at the time the trial court passed its order, it was already aware of an assessment order stating that properties worth Rs 655 crore had been unlawfully acquired.
Special Counsel Zoheb Hussain, who was also present in the court, further submitted that the law itself clarifies that, for the purpose of prosecution under Section 51of the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, there is no requirement for an assessment order. This, the ED argued, would not impact or impede the power to prosecute under Section 51. If an attempt itself is punishable, then a final assessment is not a prerequisite.
During the last hearing, Justice Girish Kathpalia had recused himself from hearing Bhandari’s plea. The judge had then listed the matter for arguments on the maintainability of the plea and transferred it to another bench after hearing submissions from Bhandari’s counsel as well as the ED,
Notably, the Delhi Court had declared Bhandari a fugitive economic offender on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate.
In his order, District Judge (Tis Hazari) Sanjeev Aggarwal observed,“The court is satisfied that Sh. Sanjay Bhandari, S/o Late Sh. R.K. Bhandari, is a fugitive economic offender under Section 12(1) of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, and is declared as such under the aforesaid provision(s) of the said Act.”
Noting that the extradition attempt might have failed, the court said that this “will not make the accused an angel or immune from prosecution for violating Indian laws.”
In a detailed 100-page judgment, the court observed,“The FEO proceedings are another way of making one come back to India to face trial by coercing him to return by attachment and confiscation of the properties of such a fugitive economic offender and proceeds of crime, and by disentitling such a fugitive economic offender from putting forward or defending any civil claim.”
Sanjay Bhandari, aged 63, fled to London after the Income Tax Department, in 2017, filed a chargesheet under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015, alleging that he had concealed foreign assets and failed to disclose them to Indian tax authorities.
Taking cognisance of the I-T Department’s chargesheet, the ED initiated a criminal case against him and others for money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency later attached Bhandari’s assets worth Rs. 21 crore under the PMLA.
In 2020, the ED filed its first chargesheet against him. The agency has also been probing Bhandari’s links with Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Following this, in 2023, the ED filed a supplementary chargesheet in the case, alleging that Bhandari “acquired” the 12, Bryanston Square house located in London in 2009 and got it renovated “as per the directions of Robert Vadra, and the funds for renovation were provided by Robert Vadra.”
Case Title: Sanjay Bhandari vs Enforcement Directorate
Order Date: 8 August 2025
Bench: Justice Neena Bansal Krishna