A Delhi court has framed charges against actor Jacqueline Fernandez, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar and 16 others in a ₹200-crore money laundering case.
Special judge Prashant Sharma of Patiala House Courts framed charges under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Chandrasekhar and Fernandez, who pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
The court also framed charges under sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Chandrasekhar and 20 others in a separate extortion case.
Chandrasekhar's lawyer argued that a supplementary chargesheet had not yet been filed and that a plea seeking postponement of the order on charge was pending before the Delhi high court.
The court held that there was prima facie sufficient material on record raising a strong suspicion that Chandrasekhar had committed the offence of money laundering under the PMLA.
The court referred to 36 pieces of evidence, including witness testimonies, call detail records and chats recovered from mobile phones, which indicated the generation of proceeds of crime to the tune of ₹215 crores.
The court rejected Fernandez's contention that she could not be prosecuted as she was not an accused in the scheduled offence, calling the argument 'meritless'.
