: A Delhi court on Thursday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing a ₹200-crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, why it has not yet arrested actress Jacqueline Fernandez, a co-accused in the matter, against whom it has issued a lookout circular.
Additional sessions Judge Shailendra Malik, who had earlier granted interim bail to Ms. Fernandez, reserved the order on the actress’ bail plea for Friday.
In response, the ED’s lawyers told the court that she had never cooperated in the investigation and even fled the country once.
“Why haven’t you [ED] arrested Jacqueline yet during the investigation despite issuing an LOC [against her]? Other accused are in jail. Why adopt a pick-and-choose policy,” the court asked the probe agency. Her lawyer argued that the actress has cooperated in the investigation but was being harassed by the probe agency.
The ED had named the Bollywood actress in a supplementary chargesheet filed before a special court in connection with the ₹200-crore case against the Mr. Chandrashekhar and others.
Ms. Fernandez sought bail, saying there was no need for her custody since the investigation is already complete and the chargesheet has been filed. The court had on September 26 granted interim bail to the co-accused on a personal bond of ₹50,000.
