Special judge Shailendra Malik reserved the order on the bail plea of Jacqueline Fernandes after hearing the submission of lawyers of both parties. The court has listed the matter for hearing on November 24 and 25.
A Delhi court on Friday rapped the Enforcement Directorate for adopting a pick-and-choose policy and asked why the agency had not arrested actor Jacqueline Fernandez despite issuing a lookout circular against her in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar.
Special judge Shailendra Malik reserved the order on the bail plea of Jacqueline Fernandes after hearing the submission of lawyers of both parties. The court has listed the matter for hearing on November 24 and 25.
Jacquline's counsel senior advocates Siddharth Agarwal and Prashant Patil submitted that the actor cooperated with the investigation and her statement was recorded five times.
They also submitted that she was not arrested during the investigation and a supplementary charge sheet has been filed and she is also a woman.
On the ED's submission that Fernandez can escape the country easily as she is not short of money, the court questioned why the actor was not arrested so far.
The agency told the court that it has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) on airports to stop the actor from leaving the country.
"Why haven't you (ED) arrested Jacqueline yet during the investigation despite issuing a LOC? Other accused are in jail. Why adopt a pick-and-choose policy,” the court asked the probe agency.
The accused has sought bail, saying there was no need for her custody since the investigation is already complete and the charge sheet has been filed.
The court had on September 26 granted interim bail on a personal bond of Rs 50,000.
The court had on August 31 taken cognizance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the ED and asked Fernandez to appear before the court.
Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, has been named as an accused for the first time in the supplementary charge sheet.
The ED's earlier charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet did not mention her as an accused. The documents, however, had mentioned the details of the statements recorded by Fernandez and fellow actor Nora Fatehi.
(with PTI inputs)