The Supreme Court will hear on June 11 actress Jacqueline Fernandez’s plea challenging the framing of charges against her in the Rs 200 crore money laundering case linked to alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, after agreeing to an urgent listing on Tuesday. The matter concerns a Delhi trial court order that formally framed charges against Fernandez and other accused in the Enforcement Directorate case.
What the case is about
The case stems from the Enforcement Directorate’s probe into an alleged Rs 200 crore extortion and money laundering racket involving Sukesh Chandrashekhar. Prosecutors say Fernandez is among those accused in the laundering of alleged proceeds of crime, while her defence has consistently argued that she should not face trial in the same manner as the principal accused.
On May 30, a Delhi court ordered framing of charges against Fernandez, Chandrashekhar and 15 others, saying they were liable to be prosecuted under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, punishable under Section 4 of the law. The court later directed the accused to appear for the formal signing and framing of charges, which marked a major step toward trial.
Supreme Court hearing
According to the latest reports, a bench of Justices P.K. Mishra and A.S. Chandurkar agreed to hear Fernandez’s petition on Thursday, June 11, after her lawyer sought urgent listing of the matter. Fernandez has challenged the trial court order directly before the Supreme Court.
The petition specifically targets the decision to frame charges, and her legal team has argued that the circumstances in her case are unusual because she is reportedly a prosecution witness in the original offence while facing accused status in the money laundering proceedings.
Earlier legal developments
This is not the first time Fernandez has approached the top court in the same matter. In September 2025, the Supreme Court declined to entertain her plea to quash the money laundering case, while giving her liberty to raise the issue at an appropriate stage, including at the stage of framing of charges.
In May 2026, the Enforcement Directorate opposed her plea to become an approver, arguing that she remained in contact with Chandrashekhar despite allegedly knowing his criminal antecedents and that she had not made full and truthful disclosures. A later report said Fernandez eventually withdrew that approver petition.
Defence position
Fernandez’s lawyers have maintained that she should not be treated as a beneficiary of the alleged crime proceeds and have contested the basis for the prosecution’s case against her. The defence has also challenged the trial court’s decision to proceed with framing charges, which they say deserves reconsideration at the highest judicial level.
At the June 3 proceedings before the Delhi court, charges were formally framed after the court’s earlier order, and Fernandez appeared before the court while denying the allegations. That development strengthened the case moving into the trial phase, making the Supreme Court hearing on June 11 a significant legal checkpoint.
Why the hearing matters
The June 11 hearing could determine whether Fernandez gets any relief from the charge-framing order or whether the trial will continue as scheduled. While the Supreme Court has already allowed her to raise the issue at a suitable stage in earlier proceedings, the upcoming hearing will test the strength of her challenge to the Delhi court’s order.
For now, the case remains at the centre of a closely watched money laundering trial involving one of the country’s most high-profile alleged extortion networks.