Despite her denials, Jacqueline loses all preliminary arguments — case moves forward in ₹200‑crore fraud matter

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez received no significant relief from the Supreme Court in the Sukesh Chandrashekhar case involving ₹200 crore money laundering. The actress had challenged the Delhi High Court's decision dismissing her petition to quash an FIR filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Jacqueline Fernandez, said that Jacqueline was not involved in the ₹200 crore money laundering scheme and that she did not know that Sukesh was a conman. Speaking on Jacqueline's behalf, she said, "I'm a film star, and this man is a con man who's in jail. He's accused of being a fake minister, etc. He calls people. He pretends to be a minister from jail, and he's not. He tells the complainant, a wealthy woman whose husband is in jail, that if she gives him 200 crore rupees and I'm a government secretary, etc., I'll get you bail. She says she gave the money to Sukesh's men. That's the case. I have nothing to do with it. This man was infatuated with me. He sent me gifts, etc. There's no allegation that I helped him launder 200 crore rupees. Please keep this in mind. I'm not named in the extortion case. I have no part of that 200 crore rupees."

But now the Supreme Court has also rejected her petition, making it clear that the matter will be decided in the trial court, where she can present her views. The court has refused to intervene in the matter at this time.

During the hearing, Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Datta said, "The allegation is that you received gifts worth ₹200 crore. However, the nature of the law makes it difficult to determine when two people are close and one of them is involved in a criminal activity, what the role of the other was; it is not easy to separate these. In such cases, the trial court is the appropriate forum where the facts can be thoroughly examined."