Delhi High Court Dismisses Bollywood Actor Jacqueline Fernandez's Plea To Quash Rs. 200 Crore Money Laundering Case

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea moved by Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez seeking quashing of Rs. 200 crores money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.

Justice Anish Dayal said that her apprehension that any evidence would be self-incriminating cannot lead to quashing of the ECIR as statutory and constitutional protections are already provided and will have to be assessed in that rubric. 

This alone cannot assist the petitioner and release her from the yoke of prosecution under ECIR, the Court said.

It observed that all the aspects pleaded in the case put by the actress were subjective issues which require to be established through trial.

“Attribution of knowledge for the purposes of PMLA implication may potentially bring in its fold the full range, spectrum and degrees of “knowing”. For example, whether turning a blind eye to an obvious fact or disturbing news or a critical disclosure of illegality, would amount to “knowing” or not is a matter that, in this Court's opinion, can be determined post-trial, when the Court has all strands of evidence for appreciation,” the Court said.

Fernandez's plea sought quashing of ED's ECIR as well as the second supplementary complaint arraigning her as the tenth accused in the case.

In her plea, the actress said that the evidence filed by ED would prove that she is an “innocent victim” of Sukesh Chandrashekhar's “maliciously targeted attack.”

“There is absolutely no indication the 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,” the plea said.

It added that is an admitted case of ED that the Tihar jail officials provided Sukesh Chandrashekhar unrestricted access to mobile phones and other technology which was used by him to con the original complainant and many film artists including her with an identical modus operandi.

It was also submitted that once ED, in its discretion, has presented Fernandez as a Prosecution Witness in the predicate offence, it logically follows that any proceedings arising as a consequence of the same should 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,” the plea added.

Furthermore, the actress averred that subjecting her to trial for money laundering based solely on ED's “unsubstantiated assumptions”, devoid of any 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,” the plea said.

Title: JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ v. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 742

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