Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez has recently approached the Delhi High Court to request the quashing of the ECIR (FIR) and supplementary chargesheet filed by the ED in the Rs 200 Crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. The petition asserts that the evidence submitted by the ED will demonstrate that the petitioner is an innocent victim of Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s maliciously targeted attack. There is no indication that Jacqueline Fernandez had any involvement whatsoever in aiding him to launder his purportedly ill-gotten wealth.
Consequently, Jacqueline Fernandez can’t be prosecuted for the offenses under Sections 3 and 4 of the PMLA, 2002.
Jacqueline Fernandez also contends that the ED displayed partiality in arraigning the petitioner as an accused in the impugned complaint.Despite an admitted fact on record that her family member received a BMW car from Sukesh Chandrashekhar on her instructions, actress Nora Fatehi has been given a clean chit by the ED.It is noteworthy that the fact of Nora Fatehi receiving a gift from Sukesh Chandrashekhar has been presented by the ED under the head ‘Dissipation of Proceeds of Crime.’ Furthermore, Jacqueline Fernandez points out that the ED is employing a double standard.
In similar circumstances, the petitioner has been arraigned as an accused, Aditi Singh has been identified as the original complainant, and artists like Nora Fatehi, whose family member received a BMW car, as well as other artists like Nikita Tamboli, Chahatt Khanna, and Sophia Singh, who physically visited the Tihar Jail premises, have not been arraigned as accused. This indicates a malafide investigation against the present petitioner.The entire case presented by the ED relies on a single alleged news article shared with the petitioner.
According to the plea, based on this sole piece of evidence, the ED contends that the petitioner might have been aware of Sukesh’s imprisonment but still chose to accept gifts from him.
