Delhi HC Sets Final Hearing On Jacqueline Fernandez’s Plea To Quash ED Charges

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday has scheduled final arguments for September 18 in Jacqueline Fernandez’s plea to quash the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) and chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case connected to a ₹200 crore extortion case.

Sukesh Chandrasekar is also an accused in both the extortion and money laundering cases.

Justice Anish Dayal set the date for final arguments after noting that all pleadings have been completed. The court asked the parties to submit concise arguments in preparation for the hearing. Senior advocate Siddharth Agrawal, along with advocates Prashant Patil and Shakti Pandey, represented Jacqueline Fernandez.

Previously, the High Court issued a notice to the ED on December 21, 2023, and requested a response to Fernandez’s plea, which seeks to quash the ECIR dated August 8, 2021, and the second supplementary chargesheet filed on August 17, 2022, by the ED.

Siddharth Agrawal, representing Fernandez, raised three key legal issues, arguing that they can only be addressed by the Constitutional Court, not the Trial Court, even though the trial court is currently set to hear arguments on the charges. He clarified that they are not seeking interim relief to avoid delaying the trial proceedings. The High Court granted permission to file additional documents, which Agrawal deemed crucial for resolving the legal issues raised, with their relevance and admissibility to be assessed during the hearing.

Jacqueline Fernandez is one of the accused in the money laundering case tied to the alleged extortion of ₹200 crores from Aditi Singh.