ED ordered to file report in money laundering case
On Saturday, Delhi’s Patiala House Court ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to collect and file the FSL report in an ongoing INR 200 crore money laundering case.
Notable figures, Sukesh Chandrasekhar and actor Jacqueline Fernandez, are accused in the case. Special Judge Shailendra Malik granted the ED one week to collect the report, enabling the court to set a date for the argument on the charge. The court scheduled the next hearing for May 15.
The Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) assured the court that the FSL report would be collected within the given timeframe. Meanwhile, the court granted time for the counsels of some of the accused to inspect the judicial file, which claimed that certain documents had not been supplied.
Other counsels stated that all documents, including the charge sheet, had been provided. Some counsels argued that the ED had not supplied unrelied documents, but the special public prosecutor for ED said there was no directive regarding this matter.
The court clarified that the direction had already been given and emphasised that the agency was duty-bound to provide a list of un-relied documents for the case, as per the latest Supreme Court ruling.
On April 18, the court took cognizance of a supplementary complaint filed against three Tihar jail officials: Mahender Prasad Sundriyal, Sunder Bora, and Dharam Singh
Meena. The court questioned the ED about the current stage of the investigation and its completion timeline, as the case has been ongoing for four years. The court also inquired about the investigation status concerning the accused individuals, who have been in jail since their arrest in February 2023. They have claimed that the trial is being delayed.
The ED has filed a supplementary charge sheet after investigating the arrested jail officials, who are accused of money laundering. Sukesh Chandrasekhar is the primary accused in the case, with Jacqueline Fernandez and others also implicated. Fernandez is currently out on bail.
The ED case is based on an FIR filed by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against
Sukesh Chandrasekhar for allegedly cheating and extorting Aditi Singh, the wife of former Religare Enterprises promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh. Shivinder was arrested in October 2019 for alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.
Chandrasekhar and his associates reportedly took money from Aditi while posing as government officials and promising to secure bail for her husband. Chandrasekhar is said to have convinced Aditi to transfer money by impersonating a central government official during a spoof call from Rohini jail, where he promised to arrange bail for her spouse. Chandrasekhar and his actor wife Leena Maria Paul were arrested by Delhi Police in September last year for their alleged involvement in the duping case.