NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has allowed actor Jacqueline Fernandez to go abroad without its prior permission in a money laundering case, noting she requires to travel frequently leaving the country with short notice in order to ‘grab professional opportunities.’Her case is allegedly related to the Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar.
Granting relief to the actor, in the August 10 order, Special Judge Shailender Malik at Delhi’s Patiala House Court modified her bail conditions, observing it is ‘undisputed’ that Jacqueline has never misused the conditions of bail at any point of time and earlier she has taken prior permission for travelling abroad, on five occasions.
Now she would require to intimate to the court about her travel at least three days before leaving the country instead of taking prior permission before leaving the country.
Upon the intimation of travelling abroad, her passport would be released immediately subject to a deposit of Rs 50 lakh which will be released after her arrival to the country.
“Accused/applicant being citizen of Sri Lanka but still has been living in India since 2009 and has been regularly paying income tax since 2009. There has never been any instance of accused violating any condition of bail,” the court noted. Further the judge said: “...In such a situation, the condition of taking prior permission before leaving the country, becomes cumbersome and may be a reason for losing livelihood,” the judge noted.
The actress was granted regular bail in the matter on November 15 last year on the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the pre-requisite that she will take permission from the court.
Also, a plea was moved by then on behalf of Jacqueline seeking modification regarding conditions of bail. The court allowed the plea and said that the accused/applicant would require to intimate to the court at least three days before leaving the country instead of taking prior permission before leaving the country.
In her application, Fernandez claimed that “being an actor of international acclaim, she frequently engaged in film shooting, appearance at events, participation in various award functions etc. being indispensable to her professional occupations and livelihood. In certain situations, it becomes time-consuming for the accused to take the court’s approval for going abroad, which is mandatory under the terms of bail.”
Due to that reason accused has faced certain adversities, her application said.
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 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.