Actor Jacqueline Fernandez gets bail in ₹200-crore money laundering case

Actor Jacqueline Fernandez was on Tuesday granted bail on a personal bond of ₹2 lakh by a Delhi court in the ₹200-crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar.

On 11 November, special judge Shailendra Malik had said the order was not ready and extended the interim protection granted to Fernandez, a Sri Lankan national, till Tuesday.

The court on Thursday had reserved its order after hearing arguments from lawyers appearing for the actor as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

During the arguments, the court had questioned the central agency for deciding to not arrest Fernandez during the investigation of the case. "Why haven't you (ED) arrested Jacqueline yet during the investigation despite issuing an LOC? Other accused are in jail…Why are you putting different criteria?" the special judge had said.

"You can't have a pick-and-choose policy. There must be reasons for not arresting (an accused)," the court remarked.

Responding to the court's poser, advocate Shailesh N Pathak, appearing for the agency, said that a Lookout Circular (LoC) was already open against the actor and so the Investigating Officer (IO) did not exercise his power of arrest.

Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, was 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.