LI Network
Published on: December 19, 2023 at 12:16 IST
Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez has approached the Delhi High Court, seeking the quashing of a money laundering case filed against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.
In her plea, filed through Advocates Prashant Patil and Aman Nandrajog, Fernandez seeks the quashing of the ED’s ECIR and the second supplementary complaint that lists her as the tenth accused in the Rs. 200 crore extortion case.
Fernandez contends that the evidence presented by the ED will establish her as an “innocent victim” of Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s “maliciously targeted attack.”
“There is absolutely no indication that she had any involvement whatsoever in aiding him to launder his purportedly ill-gotten wealth. Hence, she cannot be prosecuted for the offenses under Section 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002,” states the plea.
The plea highlights that it is an acknowledged fact by the ED that Tihar jail officials provided Sukesh Chandrashekhar unrestricted access to mobile phones and other technology, which he used to deceive the original complainant and numerous film artists, including Jacqueline Fernandez, using an identical modus operandi.
Additionally, the plea argues that since the ED, at its discretion, presented Fernandez as a Prosecution Witness in the predicate offense, any proceedings resulting from it should logically be quashed.
“The fact that the Petitioner’s statement has been recorded as a prosecution witness in the predicate offense naturally leads to a favorable conclusion in her favor. This supports the contention that she had no knowledge whatsoever of the predicate offense committed by the main accused, Sukesh Chandrashekhar, and his associates,” adds the plea.
Furthermore, Fernandez asserts that subjecting her to trial for money laundering based solely on the ED’s “unsubstantiated assumptions,” without concrete documentary evidence, is unwarranted and unjust.
“It is crucial to note that the Directorate of Enforcement itself uses the phrase ‘could have,’ indicating a lack of concrete evidence to establish that the Petitioner was indeed aware of Sukesh’s incarceration. While the Petitioner acknowledges that she could have been more vigilant, this alone does not render her a criminal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002,” concludes the plea.
Title: JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ v. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT