A Delhi court on Friday issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant (NBW) against controversial arms dealer and consultant Sanjay Bhandari, in connection with the case under Official Secrets Act for possessing classified Defence Ministry documents.
A police official said a Red Corner Notice (RCN) cannot be issued against Bhandari until “open-ended NBW” is issued against him.
“The open-ended NBW will now facilitate the process for the Interpol to issue an RCN against Bhandari. He can be arrested and brought back to the country in order to face prosecution,” said the police official.
Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Taj Hassan said, “NBW is a legal process as we want to trace the fugitive who is wanted by the law. Our efforts are on to trace Bhandari”.
The Delhi Police has also written to the CBI to request the Interpol for a Red Corner Notice against Bhandari. After the NBW was issued, police have apprised all authorities about the warrant in order to prevent Bhandari from fleeing the country and escape investigations.
“We are yet to find out if Bhandari is inside the country or has escaped, so we are doing all that are necessary,” said the police official, adding that they have also started legal proceedings to declare Bhandari an absconder.
Bhandari has been evading personal appearances before the police. The Delhi Police has already issued a look-out notice against him.
A case under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act was registered against Bhandari at the Parliament Street Police station in connection with the recovery of confidential Defence Ministry documents from his house in South Delhi's Defence Colony.
The FIR, which was registered by Colonel Puneet Ahuja, an officer posted in the Ministry of Defence, alleged that the Ministry is the custodian of the classified documents that were recovered in the raid and possession of copies of classified documents is in contravention of the Official Secrets Act.
According to the FIR the documents pertain to policy planning and Force Development branch of the Defence Ministry.
The photocopies recovered reportedly pertained to the purchase of arms and equipments, proposals that were placed before the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which is chaired by the Defence Minister and includes military brass as well as bureaucrats. There were minutes of the 15th Contract Negotiation Committee meeting for purchasing six Additional Flight Refueller Aircraft for the IAF and acquisition proposals of the services as per the provisions of the Defence Procurement Procedure 2013. Notes on acquisitions and key meetings were also recovered by the I-T department from Bhandari who is under the scanner of the ED and Income Tax department for allegedly holding a 'benami' property in london.
The I-T had also recovered emails from Bhandari's computers that allegedly revealed his links to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, with cryptic references to a london property.