Delhi HC rejects actress Jacqueline Fernandez’s plea to quash money laundering case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday turned down a plea filed by Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez seeking to quash a money laundering case registered against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A Bench of Justice Anish Dayal declined to interfere with the ongoing trial proceeding based on ED’s prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

In April this year, Justice Dayal-led Bench reserved its decision after hearing oral arguments from senior advocate Sidharth Aggarwal representing Jacqueline Fernandez and ED’s special counsel Zoheb Hossain.

The petition strongly denied any involvement on her part in aiding Chandrashekhar to launder allegedly ill-gotten wealth.

Fernandez argued that she should not be prosecuted under Sections 3 and 4 of the anti-money laundering law. The ED had filed a second supplementary charge sheet naming her as an accused. Fernandez and another Bollywood personality, Nora Fatehi, have recorded their statements as witnesses in the case.

Earlier, assets and fixed deposits worth Rs 7.2 crore belonging to Fernandez were attached by the ED, which termed these gifts and properties as “proceeds” of crime received by the actor.

The ED had filed its first supplementary charge sheet against Pinky Irani, an alleged aide of Chandrashekhar, who introduced him to Bollywood stars.

It had been alleged in the charge sheet that Pinky used to choose expensive gifts for Fernandez and drop them at her residence after Chandrashekhar made the payments.

In December 2021, the probe agency filed the first charge sheet in this matter.

Reportedly, Chandrashekhar has spent around Rs 20 crore on different models and Bollywood celebrities.

A few had, however, refused to accept gifts from him.

Jacqueline Fernandez is a Sri Lankan actress who is based in India.

She has worked predominantly in Hindi cinema and also featured in reality shows as well as music videos.

She did her graduation in mass communication from the University of Sydney.

Jacqueline Fernandez was crowned Miss Universe Sri Lanka in 2006, and later, she represented her country at Miss Universe 2006.

IANS