The Supreme Court allowed actress Jacqueline Fernandez to withdraw her plea challenging a Delhi court order framing charges in the Rs 200-crore money laundering case linked to Sukesh Chandrashekhar. The Bench granted her liberty to approach the trial court for available legal remedies.
The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted actress Jacqueline Fernandez to withdraw her plea challenging a Delhi court’s order that framed charges against her in the Rs 200-crore money laundering case linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. The court also granted her liberty to seek appropriate remedies before the trial court.
A bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order after Fernandez’s counsel, Manail Singhal, informed the court that the actor wanted to withdraw the petition and pursue available legal remedies before the trial court.
Accepting the request, the bench allowed the withdrawal and clarified that Fernandez would be free to approach the trial court and avail any remedies available under law.
The case had earlier been listed before another bench headed by Justice PK Mishra, who recused himself because his son had appeared for the government in proceedings connected with the matter. After that, the matter was heard by the bench that delivered the Thursday order.
Fernandez had approached the Supreme Court through advocate Vartika Agarwal, challenging a May 30 order of Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma. The trial court had held that a prima facie case of money laundering was made out against Fernandez and other accused.
The order noted that, based on the material placed on record by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the accused were liable to be charged under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), punishable under Section 4 of the Act.
On June 3, charges were formally framed against Chandrashekhar, Fernandez, and others, after which the trial began.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had declined to quash the money laundering proceedings against Fernandez in connection with the alleged Rs 200 crore extortion racket. In September 2025, the top court also refused to entertain a similar plea and directed the trial court to consider her objections at the stage of framing charges.
Chandrashekhar is facing multiple extortion and blackmail cases across six cities. Investigators allege that he impersonated senior government officials through calls made from prison between 2020 and 2021, and allegedly extorted ₹215 crore from Aditi Singh by promising to secure bail for her husband, former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh.
While the Delhi Police investigated the extortion case and arrested Chandrashekhar in 2017, the ED later initiated a money laundering investigation and arrested him in 2021.
According to the ED’s complaint, Fernandez was in regular contact with Chandrashekhar and received costly gifts allegedly bought using proceeds of crime. The agency argued that she maintained her association with him despite being aware of his alleged criminal background and had benefited from the proceeds of crime, thereby weakening any claim that she was only a victim.
The ED has alleged that Chandrashekhar generated proceeds of crime amounting to more than ₹200 crore through extortion, cheating, impersonation, and criminal intimidation. The agency further claims that he then concealed the money and projected it as legitimate assets with the help of associates.
Investigators allege that the funds were transferred through multiple bank accounts, hawala routes, cash deliveries, and shell entities. Besides Fernandez, Chandrashekhar’s wife Leena Paulose and several others have also been named in the ED’s case.
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