Businessman Sanjay Bhandari's extradition appeal opens in UK High Court
London (PTI): Sanjay Bhandari, a consultant in the defence sector wanted in India on alleged tax evasion and money laundering charges, began an appeal in the High Court in London on Tuesday against his extradition order.
The 62-year-old businessman had won permission to appeal against a November 2022 Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruling clearing his extradition earlier this year.
His lawyers began making their arguments in the case, which is listed for a three-day hearing this week with the judgment expected in the new year.
Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde and Justice Karen Steyn began hearing representations from barristers James Stansfeld and Edward Fitzgerald at the Royal Courts of Justice on three main grounds of appeal – whether the bar for criminality had been met in the English jurisdiction, whether a prima facie case had been made and whether the accused faces a risk of violence in an Indian prison.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), appearing on behalf of the Indian authorities, will respond to the arguments during the course of the hearing – represented by barristers Ben Keith and Alex du Sautoy.
On Tuesday, they made representations to the judges to allow a video link to be generated for the following days, to allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to follow the proceedings from India.
“There is a real risk of violence or extortion from prisoners and prison officers,” claimed Fitzgerald, during his arguments with reference to Delhi’s Tihar Jail where Bhandari is to be lodged if he is extradited.
Then UK Secretary of State, Suella Braverman, had ordered the extradition last year. However, Bhandari, who offered consultancy services to defence manufacturers bidding for Indian government contracts through his firm Offset India Solutions, sought permission to appeal against the verdict of District Judge Michael Snow in the High Court.
Represented by Janes Solicitors, the appeal was sought on eight grounds, three of which were granted in a court order by Justice Robert Jay last October and four others being approved at a hearing in March by Justice Pushpinder Saini.
The basis for the appeal was that the District Judge had “erred in his conclusions” that the offences were extradition offences and a prima facie case had been established against Bhandari.
The CPS had argued there was “no merit in any of the renewed grounds of appeal and permission ought to be refused”.
The case concerns two extradition requests from the Indian authorities, the first concerning an allegation of money laundering, contrary to Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 in India.
The second request concerns an allegation of wilfully attempting to evade a tax, penalty or interest chargeable or imposable under the Black Money Act 2015 contrary to Section 51 of that act in India.
Bhandari, who was resident in India for tax purposes at the time in 2015, is accused of concealing overseas assets, using backdated documents, benefiting from the assets not declared to the Indian tax authorities and then falsely informing the authorities that he did not possess any overseas assets.
He denies the allegations against him and has been fighting his extradition since the first request was certified by the UK Home Office in June 2020.
The CPS, on behalf of the Indian authorities, has argued that Bhandari's conduct amounts to "fraud by false representation" in the English jurisdiction which is now the subject of a High Court challenge.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
