Actress Jacqueline Fernandez has withdrawn her special leave petition before the Supreme Court challenging the proceedings initiated against her in the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving alleged swindler Sukesh Chandrashekhar. According to IANS report, a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Joymalya Bagchi allowed the actor to withdraw his petition after hearing the case on Thursday.
Jacqueline Fernandez withdraws Supreme Court petition in Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving Sukesh Chandrashekhar
The petition has challenged the orders of Delhi High Court and Trial Court.
Jacqueline had approached the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court refused to quash the ED’s prosecution complaint and the trial court’s order framing charges against her under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). With the withdrawal of the petition, the legal proceedings against the actor will continue before the trial court.
The case was reassigned after the judge recused himself from the case.
The case was initially listed before a division bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar on June 11. However, Justice Mishra recused himself from hearing the case after informing the parties that his son had appeared for the government in a related case.
The judge said that since his son had represented the government in one of the related cases, the case should be heard by another bench. Following the denial, the case was again assigned to Justices BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi.
Jacqueline has declared herself innocent
Earlier this month, Jacqueline appeared in the Patiala House Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against her under the PMLA. She informed the court that she intended to contest the charges during the trial.
The trial court also framed money laundering charges against Sukesh Chandrashekhar, his wife Leena Maria Paul and 14 others. All the accused denied the charges and chose to face trial.
The case is now scheduled to come up before the trial court on July 16 for further proceedings.
The latest development comes weeks after Jacqueline withdrew her plea seeking to turn approver in the case. The ED had opposed his request arguing that his conduct during the investigation was not satisfactory. The agency also claimed that it failed to make full and truthful disclosures in the statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA. According to the ED, Jacqueline remained in touch with Chandrashekhar even after knowing about his alleged criminal background and did not cooperate fully during the investigation.
The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that Chandrashekhar gifted luxury items and valuables worth approximately Rs 7 crore to Jacqueline, using the proceeds of crime generated through the alleged money laundering operation. However, Jacqueline has consistently denied any involvement in the alleged crimes. She has said that she was unaware of Chandrashekhar’s alleged criminal activities and did not know the source of the money used to purchase the gifts.
The money laundering investigation has been initiated over allegations that Chandrashekhar defrauded the wives of former Ranbaxy promoters Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh of about Rs 200 crore.
