Pinky Irani, an accused in a Rs 200-crore extortion case against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, told a Delhi court on Monday that “there was not a whisper” in the investigation to substantiate allegations against her. Irani had been accused of introducing several actors to Chandrashekar in jail, and acting as his personal shopper. Making his submissions before Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik during arguments on charges, Irani's lawyer R K Handoo told the court that his client was supposed to be a witness in the case, and that “there is not a whisper” to satisfy allegations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). “Everyone took money. The whole world took money and I am targeted… the whole complaint is an infinite deal of nothing,” Handoo told the court. Meanwhile, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi police filed a supplementary charge sheet against Irani on Monday. The court is expected to hear arguments on cognisance in the matter on Tuesday. Apprising the court about how Chandrashekar allegedly paid a script writer Rs 15 lakh to produce a film for actor Jacqueline Fernandez, Handoo asked that if the writer was not made an accused, why was his client, who was promised a CEO position in a news organisation in a similar manner, made an accused in the case. “Her (Fernandez's) payment is bonafide and my payment is malafide. Jacqueline has genuinely believed that a film was being made. Is the receipt of Rs 15 lakh not proceeds of crime? My client was promised the position of a CEO at a news agency. I was to run a channel, become an editor. He (Chandrashekar) knows how to take a pound of flesh,” Handoo told the court. Handoo said it was Chandrashekar, and not his client, who had posed as an MHA official to contact the hairstylist of Fernandez to get in touch with her. Fernandez had also appeared before the court although her argument on charge in this case is yet to begin. She had moved a plea to travel abroad for professional work. The court will hear arguments on her plea on December 25. Handoo told the court that the ED alleged Irani was promised Rs 2 crore to introduce Sukesh to Fernandez and another Rs 19 crore to sort out a fight between them, however, no such transaction took place. “I am not the go-between in this case. You (Chandrashekar) will go to any means to reach somebody. He started showering gifts and said that I am an officer. He was being projected as an officer by the Tihar jail authorities,” Handoo told the court. He said an ordinary person who does not know how a jail works would not know that Chandrashekar was an accused in this case, remarking that he was “living the life of a Governor inside the jail”. “A whole floor was given to him. There were two armed guards. People came in BMW cars straight from the airport to Tihar jail. He told them that he will make them a star. How does this come under PMLA?” Handoo asked. Irani, a former TV anchor, was arrested last year by the Economic Offences Wing over her alleged links to Chandrashekar. She is currently out on bail.
