Rs 200 crore extortion case: Delhi HC issues notice to police on Pinki Irani bail plea
Apr 11, 2023
New Delhi [India], April 11 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police on a bail plea moved by Pinki Irani in connection with the Rs 200-crore extortion case involving jailed businessman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.
The Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on Tuesday sought the response of the investigating agency in the matter and listed it for further hearing on May 24.
According to Delhi police, Mumbai-based Pinky Irani is a close aide of Chandrashekhar and introduced him to actor Jacqueline Fernandez.
The supplementary chargesheet filed against Pinki Irani also mentioned the progress in the investigation through the recording of various statements, including those of Jacqueline Fernandez, and Nora Fatehi, among others.
Pinki Irani was arrested by the EOW of Delhi Police in November month of 2022.
The court earlier noted the submissions of the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police, stating, "We have arrested the accused to prevent him from causing the evidence of the offence to disappear or tampering with such evidence in any manner, to prevent the accused from making any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to the police and to ensure his presence in the court.
Earlier, Delhi Police stated that the accused Pinky Irani used to portray him (Sukesh) to be a business tycoon and facilitated meetings of certain Bollywood celebrities with Sukesh Chandrasekhar.
It was also alleged that Pinky Irani was also instrumental in disposing of the amount of money extorted from the complainant and other sources.
Earlier, Irani was arrested by the ED but later got bail. While moving for bail, she had stated that the allegations of violation of provisions of PMLA against the applicant are misconceived on facts and untenable in law, which the trial court has failed to appreciate and does not make out any case on facts and law against the applicant under the provisions of PMLA.
This ED case is based on an FIR filed by Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against Chandrasekhar, who is also accused of cheating and extorting Aditi Singh, wife of a former promoter of Religare Enterprises Shivinder Mohan Singh, who was arrested in October 2019 in a case related to alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.
Chandrasekhar and his associates reportedly took money from Aditi after posing as government officials and promising to get bail for her husband. He reportedly persuaded Aditi to transfer money by posing as a central government officer on call, while he was lodged in Rohini jail and promised to secure bail for her husband.
Both Chandrasekhar and his actor wife Leena Maria Paul were arrested by the Delhi Police in September last year for their alleged role in the duping case. The Delhi Police has, so far, arrested 13 people in connection with the case. The ED suspects that Chandrasekhar had extorted money from several people while he was in jail.
At the time of the incident, Chandrashekhar was lodged in Delhi's Rohini jail and was running an extortion racket from behind the bars. In September, the ED had arrested two aides of the jailed businessman against whom the Delhi Police recently invoked stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Chandrasekhar was allegedly running the cheating and extortion racket in connivance with jail officials and some associates outside.
