New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday opposed actress Jacqueline Fernandez’s plea seeking approver status in the Rs 200-crore money laundering case linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, arguing that she had remained in “regular and sustained contact” with him, despite being aware of his criminal antecedents.Appearing before special judge Prashant Sharma in the Patiala House Courts, the ED contended that Fernandez was not an “unwitting victim”, as her plea claimed, but a recipient of gifts allegedly purchased using proceeds of the crime.Terming her plea an attempt to evade prosecution, the agency said that her “consistent interaction through numerous ways of communication and receipt of benefits negate any claim of an unwitting victim and instead highlight her conscious association with the main perpetrator, and with illicit gains”.The agency also questioned Fernandez’s conduct during the investigation, stating that it was “far from cooperative”. According to ED, the actor failed to make full, truthful disclosures in her statements and was “evasive and contradictory” in her responses during the probe.Special public prosecutor Atul Tripathi argued that the approver status is intended for less culpable accused who aid the prosecution against the principal offenders. He said that Fernandez couldn’t be treated as a minor participant as she was allegedly a “significant beneficiary of the proceeds of crime”.“Her claim of being a victim is, therefore, self-serving and contrary to the evidence on record,” the ED said, urging the court not to grant her the approver status as it would be a “miscarriage of justice.”It said the plea was “nothing but an abuse of the process of law”.The agency further alleged that it had been filed solely with the intention of “circumventing the legal process and escaping prosecution”, instead of cooperating with the investigation.The court has now listed the matter for may 12 after Fernandez’s counsel sought time to seek instructions.Fernandez had approached the Delhi court last month seeking to become an approver. If permitted, she would turn prosecution witness and be required to disclose all material facts concerning the case and co-accused in exchange for a pardon or reduced punishment. The matter is at the stage of arguments on charge.The ED’s case originates from a Delhi Police FIR registered in Aug 2021, alleging that Chandrashekhar and his associates extorted Rs 200 crore from Aditi Singh, the wife of former Ranbaxy Laboratories promoter Shivinder Singh, by posing as senior govt officials and promising bail for her husband.Fernandez was later arrayed as an accused in the ED’s supplementary chargesheet filed on Aug 17, 2022, which alleged that she received gifts worth over Rs 7 crore, sourced from the proceeds of the crime.
