New Delhi : Bollywood actor Nora Fatehi on Monday filed a criminal defamation complaint before a Delhi court against fellow actor Jacqueline Fernandez for allegedly defaming her by “unfairly dragging” her name into an alleged Rs 200-crore money laundering case involving purported conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.

“The complainant has a pristine reputation apart from a rapidly progressing career, which has quite obviously threatened her rivals who are unable to compete with her on fair footing,” said the complaint, which is likely to come up for hearing later this month.

Fatehi claimed that Fernandez made the defamatory statement in her submission before the PMLA tribunal in “bad faith” and with “mala fide intention”.

The complaint also said the allegations made by Fernandez, also a Bollywood actor, that Fatehi received gifts from Chandrasekhar, are wrong. “The only time the complainant spoke to Chandrasekhar was when his wife, Leena Maria, made her speak to him over speakerphone at an event in Chennai where the complainant was invited by Leena. At the event, the complainant was gifted an iPhone and a Gucci bag by Leena. No gifts were ever received by the complainant from Chandrasekhar,” Fatehi said in the complaint. She also denied receiving a luxury car from him.

The court had on November 15 granted regular bail to Fernandez, who has never been arrested in the case. On August 31, it had taken cognisance of a supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate and asked Fernandez to appear before it. Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, has been named as an accused in the supplementary chargesheet.