UK-Based Arms Consultant Sanjay Bhandari Moves SC Against Delhi HC Fugitive Economic Offender Ruling

Businessman Sanjay Bhandari has approached the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's decision affirming his declaration as a Fugitive Economic Offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act

Bhandari, a defence consultant is under investigation in the alleged Pilatus basic trainer aircraft procurement and Tatra all terrain military truck procurement cases apart from proceedings under the Black Money Act.

The special leave petition filed on July 9 is yet to be listed before the apex court.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna had dismissed Bhandari's appeal against the Special Court's July 5, 2025 order declaring him an FEO. Rejecting his contention that the non bailable warrants had ceased to exist after his arrest during extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom.

The proceedings arose from an ED application filed on December 13, 2019 seeking to declare Bhandari an FEO on the basis of the scheduled offence under Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015. The Special Court declared him an FEO holding that he had left India to avoid prosecution, was residing in the United Kingdom despite non bailable warrants and that the value of the scheduled offence exceeded ₹100 crore.

Before the High Court, Bhandari argued that the non bailable warrants stood exhausted after his arrest in the UK, the UK's refusal to extradite him meant he could not be treated as refusing to return to India, and the ED lacked material to establish the statutory ₹100-crore threshold or form valid reasons to believe.

Rejecting these submissions, the High Court held that the ED possessed sufficient contemporaneous material to initiate proceedings, observing:

"Applying the same to the facts of the present case, the Ld. Special Court held that at the time of filing on 13.12.2019, the Respondent had sufficient material (the IT letter, the Prosecution Complaint, the Annexures listing foreign and domestic properties, the CA's statement regarding backdating, and Petitioner's own statements) to prima facie believe that the value of the Scheduled Offence exceeded Rs.100 crores."

Holding that all statutory ingredients under the FEO Act were satisfied, the High Court dismissed Bhandari's appeal.