Delhi HC dismisses Juhi Chawla’s suit against 5G, imposes 20 lakh fine

New Delhi, June 05: In the major development, Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the actress Juhi Chawla against the 5G rollout in India, and imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakhs on her and others who had filed the petition.

 

The Bench of Justice JR Midha called a lawsuit was filed to garner publicity. The court imposed fines after observing that the petitioner had abused the process of law by circulating the web link of the hearing on social media websites.

 

 

"Plaintiffs abused the process of law. Costs of Rs 20 lakh is imposed on plaintiffs. It appears the suit was for publicity. Juhi Chawla circulated the link of the hearing on social media," the Court said. The virtual hearing in the Delhi High Court was interrupted by an unidentified visitor who started singing songs from Chawla's movies.

 

The court also noted that the plaint was defective and not maintainable. Moreover, the court ruled that Chawla did not comply with the mandate under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure. It said that the plaint was not verified.

 

 

 

"The plaintiffs filed this suit on 28th May 2021 in which the Registry raised an objection to the maintainability of the suit. The plaintiffs, instead of explaining how the suit is maintainable, requested the Registry to list the suit as it is with defects and the plaintiffs undertook to bear the cost and consequences of the same, whereupon the Registry listed this matter, subject to objections, before this Court.", the Court observed.

 

The judge also said Plaintiff (Juhi Chawla) filed vexatious averments and had no knowledge of these averments." There is no personal knowledge of averments. Plaint based on legal advice is not maintainable," the judgment said. The Court further ordered that the deficient Court-fees of Rs 1,95,594 shall also be paid by the plaintiffs.

 

Last week, Juhi Chawla has filed a suit against the implementation of 5G in India, alleging harmful effects of radiofrequency radiation. In her petition, Chawla had claimed that the 5G rollout in India will harm public health, as the radiation that it emits will be “extremely harmful and injurious to the health and safety of the people”.

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