Arms consultant suffers setback, Delhi High Court upholds ‘fugitive’ tag

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday upheld the trial court’s order declaring British arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari a “fugitive economic offender” in connection with a money laundering case. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna found that the appeal filed on behalf of the fugitives had no merit and dismissed the appeal. In July 2025, the trial court declared Bhandari a “fugitive economic offender” based on ED’s plea, enabling the agency to seize all Bhandari’s assets. However, his chances of coming to India are almost nil after a British court ruled not to extradite him. Bhandari’s legal team claimed he was “lawfully resident there (in the UK) and declaring him a ‘fugitive’ in these circumstances would be legally wrong”. The trial court said the extradition attempt may have failed, but that “does not make the accused an angel or immune from prosecution for violation of Indian law”.