SC to hear Jacqueline Fernandez's plea against charge-framing order in money laundering case
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Thursday (June 11, 2026) a plea filed by actor Jacqueline Fernandez challenging a Delhi court’s decision to
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Thursday (June 11, 2026) a plea filed by actor Jacqueline Fernandez challenging a Delhi court’s decision to frame charges against her in a ₹200-crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar. A Bench of Justices P.K. Mishra and A.S. Chandurkar agreed to hear the matter after counsel for the actor mentioned the plea on Tuesday (June 9, 2026) and sought its urgent listing. The petition has been filed against a May 30 order of a Delhi court directing the framing of charges against Ms. Fernandez in a case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma had observed that a prima facie case was made out to charge her with the offence of money laundering under the law.
Appearing for the actor, advocate Rameeza Hakim pointed out that while Ms. Fernandez was a prosecution witness in the scheduled offence, she had been named as an accused in the corresponding PMLA case. Agreeing to list the matter, the Bench said, “We will post the matter the day after tomorrow.” Earlier, the actor had withdrawn a plea seeking to turn approver in the case after the ED opposed the request. An approver is an accused or accomplice who agrees to assist the prosecution and testify against the other accused in exchange for pardon under Section 306 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, the agency accused her of remaining in “regular contact” with Mr. Chandrashekhar even after becoming aware of his criminal antecedents. “This consistent interaction through numerous modes of communication and receipt of benefits negate any claim of being an ‘unwitting victim’ as underlined by the applicant in the present application and instead highlights her conscious association with the main perpetrator and the illicit gains,” the ED had said in its plea.
On June 3, charges were formally framed against Mr. Chandrashekhar, Ms. Fernandez and others, following which the trial commenced. The ED case arises out of an extortion case registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police in August 2022 against Mr. Chandrashekhar for allegedly cheating and extorting money from Aditi Singh, the wife of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh. The prosecution has alleged that Mr. Chandrashekhar generated proceeds of crime in excess of ₹200 crore through alleged acts of extortion, cheating, impersonation and criminal intimidation, and subsequently used a network of associates to conceal and channel the funds while portraying them as legitimate assets. The predicate offence was investigated by the Delhi Police, which arrested Mr. Chandrashekhar in 2017. The ED subsequently initiated a parallel probe into the alleged laundering of the proceeds of crime and took him into custody in 2021.
The BriefWire