The Delhi High Court dismissed actor Juhi Chawla’s lawsuit against the implementation of 5G technology in India on Friday, fining her and two other appellants Rs 20 lakh. After hearing arguments over the suit’s maintainability, the judge reserved its decision on Wednesday.
The suit is flawed, according to Justice Jag Jivan Ram Midha, who dismissed it on technical grounds. The court said “The plaintiffs have abused and misused the process of law which has resulted in waste of judicial time. The cost of Rs 20 lakh is imposed on the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are directed to deposit the cost of Rs 20 lakh with Delhi State Legal Services Authority within one week,”. The court further stated that if the cost is not deposited within one week, the DLSA will pursue legal action to recover it.
According to the court, the monies would be used to help road accident victims. The plaintiffs also brought the lawsuit to seek publicity, according to the court, as evidenced by the fact that plaintiff no. 1 (Chawla) shared the court’s videoconferencing link on her social media accounts, resulting in frequent disruptions of court proceedings.
Unknown individuals repeatedly disrupted the hearing on Wednesday, passing insults and singing songs from the actor’s films. Because of the interruptions, Justice Midha issued a warning to the user. The court personnel later ‘locked’ the virtual courtroom — a feature on the platform that prevents users from unmuting themselves. The court ordered the Delhi Police to identify the people who disrupted the proceedings on Wednesday and serve the contempt notices on them on Friday.
The appellants were reprimanded by the court on Wednesday for contacting the court directly rather than going through the administration. It also questioned the need for the litigation to include a long range of defendants, including the World Health Organization.
The suit was filed “for media publicity,” according to the court, which called it a faulty plaint. In 2016, Chawla filed a complaint against mobile tower radiation with the Bombay High Court, and the issue was eventually transferred to the Supreme Court. She has been looking for legislation and standards to decrease the amount of radiation in that situation.
