Supreme Court Denies Relief to Jacqueline Fernandez

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday denied relief to actor Jacqueline Fernandez, refusing to interfere with a Delhi High Court order that had dismissed her plea to quash an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.

A two-judge bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Fernandez: “You withdraw this. Come at an appropriate stage. That would be the better option. We will not interfere at this stage.”

Rohatgi argued that there was no allegation of Fernandez assisting Chandrasekhar in laundering Rs 200 crore. “I am a film star. This man is a con star, in jail, accused of impersonating ministers and senior government secretaries,” the counsel said, adding that Chandrasekhar was “infatuated” with Fernandez and had sent her gifts like luxury bags. He stressed that Fernandez was not an accused in the predicate offence of extortion.

Fernandez’s plea had challenged the Delhi High Court’s July 3 order dismissing her petition against the ECIR. She has been named an accused in the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case against Chandrasekhar and has appeared before the agency multiple times.

According to investigators, Chandrasekhar duped the spouses of former Ranbaxy promoters Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh of Rs 200 crore. Fernandez allegedly received gifts worth at least Rs 5.71 crore from him, despite being aware of his criminal background.

On Monday, Rohatgi contended that the prosecution’s case rested on the claim that Fernandez should have been more cautious. The bench, however, referred to the Supreme Court’s Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgment, which upheld the ED’s powers of arrest, attachment, search, and seizure under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

“Vijay Madanlal is still the law. At the stage of framing of charge, you have to accept what is the allegation. The law is such that anyone can be involved,” the bench observed.

The bench eventually dismissed Fernandez’s petition but granted her liberty to approach the court at an appropriate stage.