SC allows Jacqueline Fernandez to withdraw plea in ₹200-crore PMLA case

THe sublime margaret court on th allowed doer Jacqueline Fernandez to draw her petition challenging a Delhi court order framing charges against her in the ₹200-crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, while granting her liberty to pursue remedies before the trial court.A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order after Fernandez’s counsel, Manail Singhal, submitted that the actor wished to withdraw the petition and pursue legal remedies available before the trial court.Accepting the submission, the bench permitted the withdrawal and clarified that Fernandez would be free to avail any remedies available under law.The matter had earlier come up before another bench headed by justice PK Mishra, who recused himself from hearing the case because his son had appeared for the government in proceedings related to the matter. The case was subsequently listed before the bench that heard it on Thursday.Fernandez had approached the apex 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 stated that, based on 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, following which the trial commenced.The Supreme Court had earlier declined to quash the money laundering proceedings against Fernandez in connection with the alleged ₹200 crore extortion racket. In September 2025, the top court had also refused to entertain a similar plea by the actor and directed the trial court to consider her objections at the stage of framing charges.Chandrashekhar faces multiple cases of extortion and blackmail across six cities. According to investigators, he allegedly impersonated senior government officials through calls made from prison between 2020 and 2021 and extorted ₹215 crore from Aditi Singh by promising to secure bail for her husband, former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh.While Delhi Police investigated the extortion case and arrested Chandrashekhar in 2017, the ED later initiated a money laundering probe and arrested him in 2021.According to the ED’s complaint, Fernandez remained in regular contact with Chandrashekhar and received expensive gifts purchased from the alleged proceeds of crime. The agency has maintained that she continued her association with him despite being aware of his criminal background and benefited from the proceeds of crime, which, it argued, undermines any claim that she was merely a victim in the matter.The ED has alleged that Chandrashekhar generated proceeds of crime exceeding ₹200 crore through extortion, cheating, impersonation and criminal intimidation, and subsequently concealed and projected the money as legitimate assets with the help of associates.Investigators claim the funds were routed through multiple bank accounts, hawala channels, cash deliveries and shell entities. Besides Fernandez, Chandrashekhar’s wife Leena Paulose and several others have also been named in the ED’s case.