Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez files plea to turn approver in Rs 200-crore money laundering case against Sukesh
In 2022, a trial court had granted Fernandez bail in the ED's case, subject to her furnishing a personal bond of ₹2 lakh and one surety of the same amount.
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 17, 2026 04:40 PM IST
Jacqueline Fernandez had been named as a co-accused by the Enforcement Directorate of enjoying the proceeds of a crime allegedly given to her as gifts by Sukesh. (Source: Instagram/@redseafimfestival)
Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandezon Friday filed a plea to turn approver in connection with the Rs 200-crore money laundering case involving Sukesh Chandrashekhar.
Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma of Patiala House Court issued notice on the application and sought a response from the prosecution. The matter has been listed for hearing on April 20.
Fernandez had been named as a co-accused by the Enforcement Directorate for allegedly enjoying the proceeds of crime; the ED had alleged she was given gifts by Sukesh from the Rs 200 crore extorted from Aditi Singh, wife of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh.
The ED case stems from the extortion case filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police in August 2022 against Sukesh for allegedly cheating and extorting money from Aditi by posing as the Union law secretary and calling her with an offer to bail her jailed husband.
In 2021, Aditi had lodged an FIR with the Delhi Police, claiming she was cheated of Rs 200 crore by a man posing as the “law secretary”, who promised to help with her husband’s cases and asked for money on the pretext of helping him get out of jail. A case of extortion and impersonation was registered shortly and Sukesh was arrested.
A former accused or accomplice who turns a witness to support the case of the prosecution is known as an approver. Under Section 306 of the CrPC, an approver can be granted pardon by the court.
Any accused or a co-accused can approach the court to turn an approver by expressing his or her desire to do so through an application. The court forwards their application to the investigating agency through its lawyer. The investigating agency can accept or reject the plea and has to return to the court with its decision.
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In case the investigating agency accepts the plea, they have to pray before the court to pardon the approver, provided he or she makes a full and true disclosure about the facts of the case. The final decision on the issue, however, lies with the court. The court can also reject the plea of the investigating agency.
In 2022, a trial court had granted Fernandez bail in the ED’s case, subject to her furnishing a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and one surety of the same amount.
The money laundering case is among one of the 31 cases lodged against Sukesh. In 27, he has been granted bail.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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