Alleged Indian conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar was sentenced to eight years in prison on August 20 by Delhi’s Tis Hazari Court for impersonating a Supreme Court judge and attempting to influence judicial proceedings in a 2017 corruption case. The court found Chandrasekhar guilty of multiple offenses, including impersonating a public servant, threatening a public servant, and criminal intimidation.

The prosecution presented evidence that Chandrasekhar initially posed as the private secretary of a Supreme Court judge before escalating to impersonating the judge’s identity itself. Using this fabricated persona, he allegedly sought to sway the special judge presiding over his corruption trial in hopes of securing bail. The court imposed sentences of two years each for impersonation under Section 170 of the Indian Penal Code and for threatening injury to a public servant under Section 187. An additional four-year sentence was handed down for criminal intimidation under Section 507.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Harshita Mishra described the conduct as especially serious, noting that it exceeded common instances of cheating or impersonation. She emphasized that Chandrasekhar’s actions represented an attempt to leverage the authority of the Supreme Court to undermine the independence of the judiciary. The magistrate stated the sentence was intended to deter similar transgressions against the administration of justice.

The charges stemmed from an incident on April 28, 2017, when Chandrasekhar, while in police custody on corruption charges, allegedly accessed a police constable’s mobile phone. Through this device, he made calls to Poonam Chaudhary, then a special judge overseeing cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, attempting to influence the trial proceedings. The court concluded that the prosecution had established the impersonation and intimidation charges beyond reasonable doubt.

Following his conviction, Chandrasekhar petitioned the Delhi High Court to challenge the trial court’s ruling. In his appeal, he requested the removal of what he described as derogatory and unnecessary remarks about his character contained in the judgment, arguing these observations were irrelevant to the criminal charges. He also alleged that the trial court had approached the case with bias and limited his ability to present a full defense. The sentence will include consideration of the time Chandrasekhar has already spent in custody.

Chandrasekhar is also implicated in an alleged extortion scheme orchestrated from prison, accused of defrauding Aditi Singh, wife of businessman Sharvinder Mohan Singh, of approximately Rs2 billion. The broader investigation brought several Bollywood personalities under scrutiny, notably Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi. Fernandez has been named as an accused in a related money-laundering case, while Fatehi has denied any romantic involvement with Chandrasekhar and disputed details of her alleged association with him. The investigation remains ongoing.