India seeks permission to appeal in Sanjay Bhandari extradition discharge

London: The Indian government as respondent in Sanjay Bhandari extradition case has sought permission from the London High Court to appeal against the discharge of the defence sector consultant wanted in Delhi to face charges of alleged tax evasion and money laundering.

According to government officials familiar with the case, the first in a two-part process was initiated this week, which involves getting the high court’s certification of “points of law of general public importance”.

If this stage is successful, the appeal can proceed to the Supreme Court for argument.

A UK court official confirmed the Indian government had applied to certify “two points of law of general importance and grant leave to appeal to the Supreme Court”.

It follows Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde and Justice Karen Steyn's February 28 high court judgment granting the 62-year-old businessman’s appeal on human rights grounds.

The court had ordered his “discharge” from then UK home secretary Suella Braverman’s extradition order to face criminal proceedings in India based on a Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruling in November 2022.

“In our judgment, having regard to all the evidence and information provided on this ground, including the fresh evidence, we conclude that in Tihar prison the appellant (Bhandari) would be at real risk of extortion, accompanied by threatened or actual violence, from other prisoners and/or prison officials,” their judgment concluded.

The appeal was granted on the ground that Bhandari’s extradition would not be compatible with his rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) over his proposed custody in Tihar while awaiting trial.

The second ground under Article 6 of the ECHR, which refers to the “burden and standard of proof in the criminal trials”, was granted over his right to a fair trial.

The permission to appeal application made by the Indian authorities this week will seek to argue against both these grounds.

Bhandari was subject to two extradition requests: the first certified in June 2020 concerning an allegation of money laundering contrary to India’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and the second certified in June 2021 concerning an allegation of wilfully attempting to evade a tax, penalty or interest chargeable or imposable under India’s Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015.

Bhandari, who offered consultancy services to defence manufacturers bidding for Indian government contracts through his firm Offset India Solutions, had been pursuing his high court appeal against the verdict of District Judge Michael Snow through Janes Solicitors.

The appeal on four other grounds had been dismissed by the high court judges.