‘Jacqueline is innocent, no case is made out against her’

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN    
Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, August 18:Sri Lankan-origin Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez’s lawyer has said it is unfair to prosecute her with ‘untrue allegations.’

 India’s Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a charge sheet in conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar’s INR 2-billion money laundering case, and has named Fernandez as an accused in the case.Her lawyer Prashant Patil said that they have not received a copy of the charge sheet, and are waiting for the matter to be heard at the end of this month.

“You have to understand the humanitarian side of this. When any person is innocent, and if she is charged with a fake offence, it definitely is painful and not fair. Without hearing Jacqueline’s side of story, it’s not fair to prosecute her with such untrue allegations,” Patil told The Economic Times.

 Nobody has bothered to read the evidence filed by the ED. “The entire evidence reflects that she is innocent. Be it a common man or a celebrity, every person has a right to live with dignity. She has worked immensely hard in life to achieve what she has achieved in her profession. Such frivolous allegations only tarnish her image unnecessarily,” said Patil.

Patil said that the actress was a victim in this case. “She has always cooperated with the investigation agencies and attended all the summons issued till date. She has handed over all the information to the best of her ability to the ED. The agencies have failed to appreciate that she was cheated and conned into this matter. She is a victim of a larger criminal conspiracy.

“Taking the entire prosecution case to be true for the sake of arguments, even then, no case is made out against Jacqueline under the scheme of Prevention of Money Laundering Act or any other law in force. This is a case of mala fide prosecution, and my client shall take steps as required under law to protect her dignity and liberty,” Patil declared.
Fernandez’s name was linked to this controversy after it surfaced that the actress had received several expensive gifts from the con man. Her property worth INR 70 million was also attached by the ED.