Money laundering case: Actress Jacqueline Fernandez withdraws plea from Supreme Court
A Delhi court on May 30 ordered framing of charges against the actress, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar and 15 others in the case
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez to withdraw her petition challenging a Delhi court order to frame charges against her in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case.
A Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Joymalya Bagchi allowed the withdrawal of her petition with the liberty “to avail appropriate remedy in accordance with law” after her counsel made a request to this effect.
Fernandez had challenged a Delhi court’s May 30 order to frame charges against her, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar and 15 others in the case. Setting the stage for trial, it formally framed charges against the accused in the money laundering case.
The trial court had directed that charges be framed against Chandrashekar and 20 others for various offences, including under the stringent MCOCA provisions, in another case registered by the city police's special cell.
On June 11, Justice PK Mishra of the Supreme Court had recused himself from hearing the actress' plea.
Fernandez, who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) several times in connection with the probe, was named an accused for the first time in a supplementary charge sheet filed by the agency. The probe agency alleged in a second supplementary complaint that Fernandez was in constant touch with Chandrashekar and received valuable gifts from him through his associate Pinky Irani.
Chandrashekar was running an organised criminal network from inside jail and impersonating senior government officials, including those from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Law and Justice, the prosecution alleged.
The accused allegedly induced complainant Aditi Singh and her family members to part with huge sums of money by using spoofed calls, encrypted applications and fabricated identities.
Chandrashekar generated proceeds of crime amounting to more than Rs 200 crore through extortion, cheating, impersonation and criminal intimidation, and thereafter concealed, possessed, transferred, layered and projected the same as untainted property with the help of his associates, the probe agency alleged.
