A Delhi court on Friday extended the temporary bail granted to actor Jacqueline Fernandez in the ₹ 200 crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar till Tuesday.
Special Judge Shailendra Malik, who had earlier granted the pre-arrest protection to Ms Fernandez, said the order was not ready, adding that the court will deliver its order on Tuesday.
The court on Thursday reserved order after hearing arguments from the lawyers appearing for the actor as well as the Enforcement Directorate.
During the arguments, on Enforcement Directorate’s submission that Ms Fernandez can escape the country easily as she is not short of money, the court had questioned why the actor was not arrested so far.
The agency had told the court that it has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) on airports to stop the actor from leaving the country.
“Why haven’t you (ED) arrested Jacqueline yet during the investigation, despite issuing an LOC? Other accused are in jail. Why adopt a pick-and-choose policy,” the court had asked the probe agency.
Ms Fernandez has sought bail on the ground that there was no need for her custody since the investigation is already complete and the charge sheet has been filed.
The court had on September 26 granted interim bail to her on a personal bond of ₹ 50,000.
The court had on August 31 accepted the supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate and asked Ms Fernandez to appear before the court.
Ms Fernandez, who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate several times in connection with the investigation, has been named as an accused for the first time in the supplementary charge sheet.
The agency’s earlier charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet did not mention her as an accused.
