A Delhi court has modified the bail condition in a Rs 200-crore money laundering case filed against Jacqueline Fernandez and alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, allowing her to leave the country without prior permission. Instead of obtaining prior authorization, the court ordered her to notify it and the Enforcement Directorate at least three days before leaving the country.
Special Judge Shailendra Malik, who granted release to Fernandez on November 15, last year, stated that the actor needs to travel abroad on short notice in order to pursue career possibilities, and she has never abused the bail restrictions at any point in time.
The judge modified the condition in an order passed on August 10, noting that taking prior permission of the court before leaving the country “becomes cumbersome and may be a reason for losing livelihood.” While granting bail to Fernandez, the judge had directed her “not to leave the country without prior permission of the court.”
The court noted that while Fernandez was standing trial in the ED’s money laundering investigation, she was called as a witness in a connected case being investigated by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW).
The court also noted that the accused had never abused the bail restrictions at any point in time.
The judge stated that the objective of requiring the accused to obtain prior authorization before leaving India was merely to ensure that she appeared during the course of the trial and that there was no prospect of her fleeing the judicial process.
“In the present case, I find considering the fact that the accused being an actor in the Indian film industry and has to travel abroad frequently and in certain situations, in order to grab professional opportunities, she requires to leave the country with short notice.
“In such a situation, the condition of taking prior permission before leaving the country becomes cumbersome and may be a reason for losing livelihood,” the judge said.
The judge further stated that Fernandez was a Sri Lankan national who had been living in India since 2009 and had been paying income tax on a regular basis since 2009.
According to the judge, there has never been an incident of the accused violating any bail term.
“In such a situation when apprehension of investigating agency can be removed by putting certain other conditions, I find that it would be just an equitable to modify conditions of bail regarding taking of prior permission before leaving the country. Accordingly, application of accused is being allowed,” the judge said.
In her application, Fernandez claimed that “being an actor of international acclaim, she frequently engaged in film shooting, appearance at events, participation in various award functions etc. being indispensable to her professional occupations and livelihood. In certain situations, it becomes time-consuming for the accused to take the court’s approval for going abroad, which is mandatory under the terms of bail.” Due to that reason accused has faced certain situations wherein organisers, producers and other film industry professionals, on account of the time-consuming process of seeking court approval for leaving India, opted to engage other individuals resultantly potential financial loss and reputational implications to her, the application claimed.
Fernandez was granted bail in the case on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and one surety of the same amount by the court.
On August 31, 2022, the court took cognizance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and summoned Fernandez to appear.
Fernandez, who had been summoned multiple times by the ED in connection with the inquiry, was identified as an accused for the first time in the supplemental charge sheet.
The ED’s initial and additional charge sheets did not name her as an accused.
However, the documents highlighted the specifics of the comments recorded by Fernandez and fellow actor Nora Fatehi.
