In a setback for Jacqueline Fernandez, the Delhi High Court has dismissed her plea seeking to quash an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against her in connection with a ₹200 crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar.

The Bollywood actress had filed a petition seeking the quashing of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and the ED's prosecution complaint, which is equivalent to a chargesheet, that named her as an accused in the case. Justice Anish Dayal rejected Fernandez's petition. The detailed judgment is still awaited.

The ED had booked Jacqueline Fernandez as a co-accused in the money laundering case, alleging that she received expensive gifts from Chandrashekhar. Chandrashekhar is accused of posing as a high-ranking government official acting on behalf of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Home Minister to deceive businesswoman Aditi Singh of nearly ₹200 crores over a period of seven to eight months.

Initially, the prosecution complaint was filed against eight accused in December 2021, and Fernandez was not named. Fernandez stated that she had appeared before the ED five times and recorded her statement under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). However, on August 17, 2022, the ED filed a second supplementary prosecution complaint, arraigning Fernandez as an accused, which she challenged in court.

Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal, representing Fernandez, argued that she was only seeking the quashing of the prosecution complaint insofar as it related to her, not in its entirety. The ED's case stems from an extortion case filed by the economic offenses wing of the Delhi Police in August 2022.