Nora Fatehi filed a defamation suit against Jacqueline Fernandez and some media organizations in a Delhi court in connection with the 200-crore extortion case being probed by central agencies in which conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar is the main accused. Nora and Jacqueline have both been questioned in a money laundering case filed against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. Nora's plea alleged that Jacqueline “made defamatory imputations” due to “malicious reasons” with an intent to “destroy her career to further her own interests”. Now, Jacqueline's lawyer Prashant Patil has spoken out about the case.
In an interview with a news portal, advocate Prashant said, “Jacqueline has not made any statement in front of any electronic or print media against Nora or for that matter, any other person. She has consciously avoided talking about the Enforcement Directorate proceedings. Till date she has maintained the sanctity of law and because the matter is sub-judice she has always avoided to speak in front of print and social media. Having said that, we have not received any official copy of the suit filed by Nora. Once we receive an official confirmation or an order of the Honourable Court, we will respond to it legally.”
The lawyer added that while Jacqueline has the ‘utmost respect’ for Nora, if she is dragged into legal proceedings, she will ‘respond to protect her dignity’. “My client has the utmost respect for Nora. There definitely has been some sort of miscommunication. Quoting anybody's reply, filed before an adjudicating authority, is a matter of pure judicial proceeding. Any statement made during the course of arguments made before a judicial proceeding cannot be quoted in the public domain, the way it has been quoted now. My client has no intention to defame Nora or for that matter anybody else. If Jacqueline is dragged to any legal court, she will respond legally to protect her own dignity,” he added.
An industry source said "It’s shocking that Nora has filed defamation on media as well as Jacqueline. Saying something to competent authorities during an ongoing investigation is not defamation. It’s not as if Jacqueline has given media quotes and held a press conference in the matter. She has only co-operated in the investigation and is fighting her case. Actually, since the case is an ongoing investigation Jacqueline has maintained a very dignified media silence on the issue."
Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Monday adjourned by a week the hearing in the money laundering case against Jacqueline and Sukesh Chandrashekar.
(Source: ETimes)
