Overview

• On July 5, a Delhi special court applied the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act to formally designate UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari as a fugitive economic offender.
• The declaration enables the Enforcement Directorate to attach or confiscate his properties globally and bars him from initiating or defending any civil proceedings in India.
• This judgment follows a UK High Court decision earlier this year that denied India’s extradition request over concerns he could face extortion or violence in Tihar Jail.
• ED investigations accuse Bhandari of laundering funds, concealing foreign assets and backdating documents, with a money laundering case registered in 2017 and its own charge sheet filed in 2020.
• The agency alleges Bhandari used funds linked to Robert Vadra to acquire and renovate a London property in 2009—a claim that Vadra has rejected.