SC allows Sukesh Chandrashekhar to appear via video call before CBI court

The Supreme Court on Friday directed alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar to appear via video conferencing mode before a CBI Court Chennai in a money laundering case registered against him thereA bench headed by Justices UU Lalit allowed the application filed by investigating agency seeking Chandrashekhars appearance through video conferencing mode as he is required to be produced in Chennai in a CBI courtAs the matter came up for hearing Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appearing for CBI told the bench that taking him to Chennai would leave another person duped he can dupe people in each and every stageChandrashekhar is lodged in Tihar jail on charges of money laundering and duping several persons and claimed a threat to his life in the prisonHe and his wife had earlier approached the top court seeking transfer from Tihar Jail to any other prison outside Delhi on the ground of threat to his lifeAlso Read ED questions Jacqueline Fernandez in conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar caseEarlier the apex court had asked Chandrashekhar to provide it with the names of Tihar jail officials to whom payment of 125 crores was made on his behalf along with payment details It had asked him to give the names of people who made the payment on his behalf and who took the moneyThe bench had said it will go into the root of the matter of whether Chandrasekhar was a victim of extortion in jail or he was bribing jail officials to run his syndicate or extortion racket from Tihar jailSenior advocate R Basant appearing for Chandrashekhar had told the apex court that his client continuously faces threats to his life from the jail staff and protection money was being sought from him He had alleged that the Tihar prison authorities have extorted around Rs 125 crore from him in the last two yearsEnforcement Directorate ED had said that while inside Tihar jail he was running a crime syndicate paying Rs 15 crores every month for facilities like using phones to pass messages to persons from his syndicate and some jail officials were on his monthly payrollIt said charges against him were serious and he impersonated as judges and government officials and conned people of hundreds of crores from jailED had also sought prosecution of Chandrashekhar for perjury claiming that he has falsely stated in his affidavit about a physical assault in Tihar Jail and deliberately omitted the report of the doctors who ruled out any physical injury on himOpposing Chandrashekhars plea for transfer to another jail ED had said that Chandrashekhar used to call models and celebrities to his jail in collusion with prison staff who have been suspended and an inquiry has been ordered against themED had told the top court that Chandrashekhar indulged in money laundering extortion and impersonation of public officials including that of those holding constitutional postsHe is charged with many multicrore fraud cases and is also accused of extorting Rs 200 crore from the family of former Fortis Healthcare and Ranbaxy Lab promoters Shivinder and Malvinder Singh from the premises of the prisonHe was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the 2017 Election Commission bribery instance allegedly involving former AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and othersA number of women Bollywood actors and models have been questioned by the ED for their alleged links to ChandrashekharThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever