A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to actor Jacqueline Fernandez in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar. Special Judge Shailendra Malik granted the relief on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and one surety of like amount.
On November 11, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had submitted 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. "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.
“We have not seen Rs 50 lakh in cash in our entire life but Jacqueline frittered away Rs 7.14 crore for fun. She has tried every trick in the book to try and escape because she has enough money,” the ED had said as quoted by NDTV.
The accused had 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, 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.
(With PTI inputs)