The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed actress Jacqueline Fernandez to withdraw her petition challenging a Delhi court order filing charges against her in a case. $A Rs 200-crore money laundering case involving alleged fraudster Sukesh Chandrashekar has been given liberty to pursue remedies before the trial court.
A bench of Justices B V Nagrathna and Joymalia Bagchi passed the order after Fernandes’ counsel, Manil Singhal, submitted that the actor wished to withdraw the petition and pursue legal remedies available before the lower court.
Accepting the application, the bench allowed the withdrawal and made it clear that Fernandes would be free to avail himself of any remedies available under the law.
The case had earlier come up before another bench headed by Justice PK Mishra, who recused himself from hearing the case as his son appeared before the government in proceedings related to the matter. The case was then presented before the court, which heard it on Thursday.
Fernandes had approached the Supreme Court through advocate Vartika Agarwal, challenging the May 30 order of additional hearings by Justice Prashant Sharma. The court of first instance ruled that a prima facie case of money laundering had been filed against Fernandez and other defendants.
The order stated that based on the material recorded by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the accused were liable to be charged under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which is punishable under Section 4 of the Act.
On June 3, charges were formally framed against Chandrashekhar, Fernandes and others, after which the trial began.
The Supreme Court had earlier refused to quash money laundering proceedings against Fernandes in relation to the allegations $200 crore extortion racket. In September 2025, the Supreme Court also refused to entertain a similar petition by the actress and ordered the lower court to consider her objections at the charging stage.
Chandrashekhar is facing multiple cases of extortion and extortion in six cities. According to investigators, he allegedly impersonated senior government officials through calls made from prison between 2020 and 2021 and blackmailed them. $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 Chandrashekar in 2017, the ED later initiated a money laundering probe and arrested him in 2021.
According to the ED complaint, Fernandes remained in regular contact with Chandrashekar and received expensive gifts purchased with the alleged proceeds of the crime. The agency confirmed that it continued its association with him despite knowing of his criminal background and benefiting from the proceeds of crime, which, it said, undermines any claim that it was merely a victim in this matter.
The ED alleged that Chandrashekhar generated proceeds of crime exceeding $200 crore through extortion, cheating, impersonation and criminal intimidation, then concealed the money and presented it as legitimate assets with the help of accomplices.
Investigators allege that the funds were routed through multiple bank accounts, remittance channels, cash deliveries, and shell entities. Besides Fernandes, Chandrashekar’s wife, Leena Pauls, and several others have also been named in the ED case.
