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A London court on Monday ordered extradition of businessman Sanjay Bhandari to India to face charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
But, according to reports from United Kingdom, Bhandari will be grilled by Enforcement Directorate which had taken up an investigation from Delhi police that was probing recovery of classified defence documents from his house in 2016. The Income Tax is also probing allegations that Bhandari, whose firm Offset India Solutions was offering consultancy for executing offset contracts for foreign arms manufacturers, held back his global assets from authorities to avoid paying taxes.
Probe kickbacks
It looks that Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) may not get his custody in case of his return to India. The CBI had registered a case in 2019 to probe kickbacks in ₹2,895 crore deal to purchase 75 basic trainer aircraft for Indian Air Force from the Switzerland company Pilatus Aircraft Ltd during the Congress-led UPA regime in 2009. The agency had booked officials of Defence Ministry, IAF and the Swiss company.
According to the PTI, Indian authorities had made two extradition requests for money laundering and tax evasion cases only. Westminster Magistrates’ Court’s District Judge Michael Snow agreed to Bhandari’s extradition and referred the case to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman to give nod on the basis of court order to offload him to Delhi.
“As I am satisfied that extradition is compatible with the defendant’s Convention rights, I must send this case to the Secretary of State (Braverman) for a decision as to whether the defendant is to be extradited,” Judge Snow said in his judgment.
“However, I only do so on the basis of the assurances that have been provided by the government,” he said. India has assured the court that Bhandari will be kept in a separate cell at Tihar Jail and offered adequate healthcare facilities throughout the trial in India. Bhandari is expected to challenge the London court order to stall his extradition to face probe here which is expected to reveal uncomfortable details of Manmohan Singh government and his proximity to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.
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