'Suit for publicity,' Delhi-HC quashes Juhi Chawla's 5G petition, fined
The plea filed by actress Juhi Chawla on Monday against the setting up of 5G wireless networks in the country has been quashed by the Delhi High Court. The court called the complaint "defective and non-maintainable" and observed, "it appears that the suit was for publicity." The actress and others have been fined Rs. 20 lakh for "abusing and misusing the process of law."
Court: 'Why no representation given to government before filing suit?'
Chawla's complaint, filed through advocate Deepak Khosla, sought a direction to the authorities to certify that 5G technology is safe for all. Discussing the matter, the court today asked why Chawla filed the suit without giving any representation to the government on her concerns related to the technology. Had the government denied the plaintiffs their rights, they could have approached the court, it observed.
Fans sang hit songs from Chawla's movies to disrupt proceedings
Chawla was also admonished for indirectly causing multiple disruptions in court proceedings by sharing the link of her online hearing on various social media handles. Upon receiving the URL from Instagram and Twitter, several of her fans started singing songs from her movies, thereby interrupting the proceedings. After ignoring the disturbances three times, Justice JR Midha ordered a contempt notice against the miscreants.
Delhi Police to take action against 'those who created disruption'
"Delhi Police shall take action against those who created disruption," maintained the court. To note, Chawla had filed the suit with social worker Veeresh Malik and Teena Vachani. In her complaint, she mentioned that if the fifth generation of (LTE) mobile broadband networks are set up in India, the levels of RF radiation will reach 10 to 100 times greater than what exist today.
Confused? The actress maintained they were not against 5G
This would happen if one is exposed to them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But speaking to IANS, the actress noted that they were not against the technology. She just wants the government to assure her "that 5G technology is safe." Alternatively, private telecom companies' counsel maintained that launching 5G is a government policy, and thus cannot be a wrongful act.
