Patiala House Court granted bail to actor Jacqueline Fernandez in an Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar on Tuesday.
Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik granted bail to the actress on a personal bond of Rs 200,000 and one surety of the same amount.
Earlier, during the bail arguments, the judge had warned ED not to implement a “pick and choose policy,” posing questions to the agency as to why it did not arrest her and was using different yardsticks in this case.
Fernandez has been accused of enjoying the proceeds of a crime in which conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar allegedly extorted Rs 200 crore from Aditi Singh, the wife of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh.
According to Jacquline’s counsel, senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal and Prashant Patil, the actress cooperated with the investigation and her statement was recovered five times.They also submitted that she was not arrested during the investigation, a supplementary charge sheet has been filed, and she is also a woman. This proposition ought not to be altered by the court. It was also argued that she was not aware that the gifts she received were the proceeds of crime. In these circumstances, she is entitled to bail.
On the other hand, counsel for ED submitted that she has a history of attempts to flee the country. She did not cooperate in the investigation. Apart from this, she is economically sound, she can influence the investigation, and win over the witnesses. She possessed, used, and enjoyed the proceeds of crime, ED argued. It is the role of the accused. The investigation is still going on, and any other issues may crop up.
The Additional Sessions Judge earlier issued notice to ED on Jacqueline’s regular bail petition and granted interim bail to her till the pendency of her regular bail petition.
