SC order in Sandesara case could open doors for similar settlements: Experts

A negotiated financial closure that has absolved the Sandesara brothers, Nitin and Chetan, of Sterling Biotech Limited, of all criminal proceedings following a November 19 Supreme Court decision opens the door for similar settlement by other fugitives, besides potentially weakening India's extradition efforts in foreign jurisdictions, experts said.

- Neeraj Chauhan [e-mail]

While officials in investigation agencies denied meting out any special treatment to Sandesaras, legal experts said the deal gives a chance to other fugitives to claim before the foreign courts that there is a differential treatment of economic offenders in India.

"For any constitutional court, including the Supreme Court, there has to be extraordinary special circumstances, indicative of non culpability, in order to pass an order that all criminal cases are to be quashed as well. In the Sandesara brothers' case, such extraordinary special circumstances are not apparent, and investigating agencies have filed charge sheets, indicating strong criminal culpability on their part," senior advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, a criminal defence lawyer, said.

He added that the amount settled was also lower than the principal owed to the financial institutions.