Over the past couple of months, actresses Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi have been questioned multiple times in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. On Monday, Nora even filed a defamation case against Jacqueline, and claimed that the latter “made defamatory imputations” against her for “malicious reasons” with an intent to “destroy her career to further her own interests”.

Reportedly, Jacqueline has given a written statement to the appellate tribunal, PMLA, alleging that she was “falsely implicated by ED even as other celebs such as Nora Fatehi who had received gifts from Chandrashekhar had been made witnesses”. To counter that, Nora pleaded, “Jacqueline Fernandes sought to criminally defame the complainant in order to destroy her career to further her own interests, since they are both working in the same industry and have similar backgrounds, amongst other reasons.”

Now amid the ongoing fiasco, Jacqueline’s lawyer Prashant Patil has claimed that the actress has never spoken ill about Nora on any public or private platform, including during the Enforcement Directorate proceedings. The lawyer was further quoted by Times of India as saying that they are yet to get a defamation suit copy from Nora and when they do, they will respond to it legally.

In the Sukesh Chandrasekhar case, both Jacqueline and Nora are said to have received expensive gifts and favours, and Prashant further stated that Jacqueline has, “utmost respect for Nora. There definitely has been some sort of miscommunication”. He further added that quoting anybody’s reply, filed before an adjudicating authority, is a matter of pure judicial proceeding.?

Meanwhile, TOI also quoted an industry source as saying, "It’s shocking that Nora has filed a defamation on media as well as Jacqueline. Saying somethings 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 investigation and is fighting her case. Since it is an ongoing investigation, Jacqueline has maintained a very dignified media silence on the issue.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, Nora last featured in a special song, titled ‘Jehda Nasha’ in Ayushmann Khurrana’s ‘An Action Hero’. Jacqueline on the other hand, was last seen in ‘Ram Setu’ alongside Akshay Kumar. She has Rohit Shetty’s ‘Cirkus’ in the lineup, where she stars alongside Ranveer Singh.