New Delhi: Actor Jacqueline Fernandez on Friday moved an application to turn an approver in the money laundering case involving her and alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, in yet another attempt to put the case behind her and come out clean.
In a plea filed before the Delhi court, Fernandez said she would make “full and true disclosure of whole of the circumstances within her knowledge”, according to a copy of the plea reviewed by ThePrint.
Fernandez also wrote to the investigating officer of the ED Thursday, seeking similar relief in the case.
A special PMLA Court in Delhi Friday issue notice to the ED to submit its response to her plea by Monday.
If the ED accepts the request and gives its consent, the application will return to the court for final approval. If the court agrees, she would be examined as a witness and would no longer be an accused in the case.
This, however, seems unlikely.
Speaking to ThePrint, a source in the ED, said, “There is a strong case against her. We have put all evidence on record. Why would we accept such a request? We would most likely reject it.”
In July 2025, the actor had approached the Delhi High Court, seeking to quash the case against her, but her plea was dismissed. She had told the court that she had no knowledge of Chandrashekhar’s business dealings or alleged criminal activities, and was unaware of the source of the money he used to buy her expensive gifts.
Rejecting her plea, the court observed that whether she was aware of the source of the money is yet to be verified.
The ED has maintained that Jacqueline chose to “brush under the carpet” a newspaper article highlighting Chandrashekhar’s criminal background and continued to receive lavish gifts for herself and her family until his arrest.
The ED’s case against Chandrashekhar is based on an FIR registered by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), in which he is accused of cheating and extorting Aditi Singh, wife of former Religare Enterprises promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh.
Shivinder Singh was arrested in October 2019 in a case related to the alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.
According to ED officials, Chandrashekhar allegedly duped Aditi Singh by posing as a government official and promising to secure bail for her husband. In 2020, he allegedly impersonated then law secretary Anup Kumar and home secretary Ajay Bhalla to extort Rs 215 crore from her. He is also accused of claiming that her conversations were being monitored by the home minister and the prime minister.
Investigators say Chandrashekhar used the proceeds of crime to buy expensive gifts for Jacqueline, including Hermès bags worth lakhs, diamond jewellery from Tiffany, and even exotic cats and horses sent through carriers.
According to ED sources, the two came into contact in January 2021, when Chandrashekhar allegedly began calling and messaging Fernandez from inside Tihar Jail.
Initially, Fernandez did not respond. Chandrashekhar later approached her through her hairdresser, introducing himself as the “owner of Sun TV and Malabar Jewellers” and as someone “close to Home Minister Amit Shah”, sources said.
During questioning, Fernandez told investigators that she was unaware Chandrashekhar was in jail and often wondered why he avoided meeting her in person. Chandrashekhar, who faces around 20 criminal cases, has been in custody since 2017.
She also told investigators that she had once read about Chandrashekhar in the news and raised it with an intermediary, but was told he had been “implicated in a false case” and that such things “happen with big businessmen”, ED sources said.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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