Court adjourns to Nov 15 order on actor Jacqueline Fernandez’s bail plea

PTI, Nov 11, 2022, 4:11 PM IST

A Delhi court on Friday adjourns to November 15 its order on actor Jacqueline Fernandez’s bail application in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar.

The court also extended Fernandez’s interim protection till Tuesday.

Special Judge Shailendra Malik, who had earlier granted Fernandez interim bail, said the order was not ready.

The court on Thursday reserved order after hearing arguments from the lawyers appearing for the actress as well as the Enforcement Directorate.

During the arguments, on ED’s submission that Fernandez can escape the country easily as she is not short of money, the court had questioned why the actor was not arrested so far.

The agency had told the court that it has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) on airports to stop the actor from leaving the country.

“Why haven’t you (ED) arrested Jacqueline yet during the investigation despite issuing an LOC? Other accused are in jail. Why adopt a pick-and-choose policy,” the court had asked the probe agency.

The accused has sought bail on the ground that there was no need for her custody since the investigation is already complete and the charge sheet has been filed.

The court had on September 26 granted interim bail to her on a personal bond of Rs 50,000. The court had on August 31 taken cognizance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate and asked Fernandez to appear before the court. Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, has been named as an accused for the first time in the supplementary charge sheet.

The ED’s earlier charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet did not mention her as an accused. The documents, however, had mentioned the details of the statements recorded by Fernandez and fellow actor Nora Fatehi.